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Them wolves or their wolves? I just came across on lyrics of Eminem's "survival" which confused me. Here is piece of song which confused me. Throw me to them wolves and close the gate up on me. I thought that correct phrase is their wolves instead them wolves. Am I right? | Could "them" mean "those"? Background Nowadays, I see "them" used to mean "those" a lot. I don't know if it was as common in the past. For example, take "one of ". On researching about it, I found some people say it comes from a dialect of British English. Some others say it is a "non-standard" usage. I see this usage in Canadian English also, and it seems some people use it in a sarcastic way. Moreover, I have seen a song titled "one of them days". I also read, in the book called "A Broken Promise", "" Finally, Wikipedia says that it is a usage in (a common name for the Southern Midland dialect of American English): Pronouns and demonstratives "Them" is sometimes used in place of "those" as a demonstrative in both nominative and oblique constructions. Examples are "Them are the pants I want" and "Give me some of them crackers." Question(s): What would you say about the usage of this word? Is it correct? Could we use it in daily speech? Could this usage go beyond a specific dialect and be used in other dialects, regions, etc.? Does it really originate from Appalachian English? Why did this usage become popular among other English speakers? Note: I have already seen a similar question: However, it only says, "ungrammatical," there. This question is specific to this situation only, and there is more to it. | Is this a grammatically correct line in a poem: “Will he roll the dice, and follow it to Vegas?”? I want to use the following line in a poem: "Will he roll the dice, and follow it to Vegas?" A couple of things to note; firstly, obviously I'm using "roll the dice" in both a figurative/idiomatic sense (as in taking a risk), and in a somewhat more literal sense (painting the image of the person actually following the dice that have been rolled to Las Vegas). That being said, my confusion here is if I can get away with using "follow it" or if I need to say "follow them" .... As I've read online "dice" traditionally refers to more than one die (i.e., the plural of die), but in the modern usage, "dice" can also be used to refer to the singular (i.e., just one die). So, it seems like if I was referring to the image of just one die, then the way I phrased it could be correct. However, the image I'm trying to paint is the one usually associated with the phrase "roll the dice" (i.e., rolling two dice)... So could "follow it" still be considered acceptable in this sense... or would I need to use "follow them"?... And if not referring to the dice themselves, could using, could the "it" be taken to refer to the act of rolling the dice, or would that not work either? Thanks so much in advance!! | eng_Latn | 17,100 |
Are there any non-contraction you-plural words in English besides 'yourselves'? I can only think of yourselves as a single word that is related to (only) you-plural and isn't a verb. The other one I can think of is y'all but that's more of a contraction. | Which English dialects have 2nd person plural? "Y'all" is the famous southern US form of the 2nd person plural. The Brooklyn / Italian-American "youse" might be another. While the existence and usage of "y'all" has been addressed somewhat thoroughly here: , I've found nothing else on EL&U regarding 2nd person plural forms in other English dialects. I know there was a dual form in Old English () does that survive in any of the dialects in the Danelaw? Do Scots / Gaelic / Welsh / Australian / other dialects retain any type of 2nd person plural / dual in modern usage? | How do you pluralize the acronym "POC" ("proof of concept")? Possible Duplicate: What's the plural form of the acronym , short for proof of concept? ...for his contributions to many POCs or ...for his contributions to many POC is not a duplicate as it is focused on cases like "ATMs" where the expanded form "automated teller machines" ends in a noun with a regular plural form ending in "s." In "proof of concept," the noun is in the middle of the abbreviated phrase. If we pluralize the uncontracted phrase, we get "proofs of concept," which has an "s" in the middle rather than at the end. It's unclear from the linked answers how abbreviations with this structure should be pluralized. (POC, POCs, PsOC?) | eng_Latn | 17,101 |
his very first novel vs his first novel In a reading comprehension exercise for my students there is a sentence: "What was it like to become famous with your very first novel?" Does it mean that the author wrote more than two books? ... I´ve read the answers on the related topic, but they didn´t help me in this particular case. | Difference between "the very first" and "first" I have the sentence: Who wrote the very first dictionary ever? Is it any different from Who wrote the first dictionary ever? I don't get how something could be more first. | Is this a grammatically correct line in a poem: “Will he roll the dice, and follow it to Vegas?”? I want to use the following line in a poem: "Will he roll the dice, and follow it to Vegas?" A couple of things to note; firstly, obviously I'm using "roll the dice" in both a figurative/idiomatic sense (as in taking a risk), and in a somewhat more literal sense (painting the image of the person actually following the dice that have been rolled to Las Vegas). That being said, my confusion here is if I can get away with using "follow it" or if I need to say "follow them" .... As I've read online "dice" traditionally refers to more than one die (i.e., the plural of die), but in the modern usage, "dice" can also be used to refer to the singular (i.e., just one die). So, it seems like if I was referring to the image of just one die, then the way I phrased it could be correct. However, the image I'm trying to paint is the one usually associated with the phrase "roll the dice" (i.e., rolling two dice)... So could "follow it" still be considered acceptable in this sense... or would I need to use "follow them"?... And if not referring to the dice themselves, could using, could the "it" be taken to refer to the act of rolling the dice, or would that not work either? Thanks so much in advance!! | eng_Latn | 17,102 |
'Someone' Singular or Plural? As we know, when the pronoun someone is used, the succeeding verb will be conjugated in the 3rd-person singular. Thus, the following sentence demonstrates legal usage: I cannot enter the room; someone is cooking. However, note the following sentence: I cannot enter the room; someone is cooking, are they not? As can be seen in the second sentence, when a question tag is used, it doesn't use the corresponding conjugation of the 3rd-person singular previously used, but rather, it takes on the 3rd-person plural. Why is this the case? What is more, why is the following sentence illegal? I cannot enter the room; someone are cooking, are they not? I thank you, in advance, for your responses. | Is there a correct gender-neutral singular pronoun ("his" vs. "her" vs. "their")? Is there a pronoun I can use as a gender-neutral pronoun when referring back to a singular noun phrase? Each student should save his questions until the end. Each student should save her questions until the end. | taller than any student or taller than any other student Which of the following sentences is correct? a) 1. John is taller than any student in his class. 2. John is taller than any other student in his class. b) 1. No student is taller than John in his class. 2. No other student is taller than John in his class. | eng_Latn | 17,103 |
The usage of "and" & "or" in negative sentences Is is grammatically okay to say? I can't do this and that My colleague persists that when you negate the verb, you can't use 'and' and it should be either; I can't do this or that or I can neither do this nor that This doesn't sound substantial to me. I've tried googling, but there weren't any thread that specifically discusses this. Either it's pretty much rudimentary and usage of 'and' is completely okay, or I'm going to learn something new. Please share some insights. | How does negation affect the use and understanding of "or" and "and" I'm trying to make more sense of how negation effects how a sentence is parsed and understood if and's and or's are used within them. Pop quiz: You are trapped on a bus with a bomb going 50 MPH. You have a radio... (okay enough Keanu Reeves references) :-) Let's say the bomb expert says "Don't cut the red or green wires." I think that means "Do not cut the wires colored red. Do not cut the wires colored green." Now, let's say the bomb expert said on the radio "Do not cut the red and green wires", instead. Do I take that to mean: "Do not cut the wires colored red. Do not cut the wires colored green." OR "Do not cut the wires whose insulation has red and green stripes." ? OR "It's okay to cut the wires colored red or the wires colored green, as long I don't cut one of each color." Which meaning should I take if the radio breaks and I can't ask follow up questions? | How is double negation interpreted in English? In my native language, double negations "cancel out". I have been trying to learn English using movies and such things, but double negation confuses me. I see instances when double negation cancels out, and some when they do not. For example, "I haven't got no money" is interpreted as "I have no money." "There wasn't anyone who didn't enjoy the party" is interpreted as "Everyone enjoyed the party." Is this context dependent? If so, how does one decide which interpretation is correct? | eng_Latn | 17,104 |
Plural or singular after uncountable noun connected with "and"? What is the correct use? His stool and urine ARE normal. His stool and urine IS normal. | Singular or plural following a list Can anyone tell me if I should use inspire or inspires in this phrase? An extraordinary leader whose vision, values, integrity and boundless curiosity inspires all who follow in his footsteps. | Is 'that is' optional? When I write something like this: I am a man that is doing these things. Is it correct to shorten it like this? I am a man doing these things. And does it require commas? | eng_Latn | 17,105 |
My/Mine to be used while writing email can I use----As per mine and John's understanding we concluded that... | "My wife and I's seafood collaboration dinner" I just stumbled upon a : My wife and I's seafood collaboration dinner. How does it look? Sure enough, the top comment immediately points out that it should be "my wife's and my". However, a cross-post to the Grammar subreddit produced : It's fine as it is written. "my wife and I" is a noun phrase, functioning as a subjective pronoun in the singular and made possessive with the apostrophe. It is exactly the same as "our". It seems weird because you would never use "I's" on its own but it is not on its own here - it is part of a noun phrase. That's a rather intriguing argument. Does it hold any water? | "Nikki's and Alice's X" vs. "Nikki and Alice's X" Which option is grammatical? There will be readings from Nikki Giovanni’s and Alice Walker’s writings. There will be readings from Nikki Giovanni and Alice Walker's writings. Saying it out loud the latter sounds right, but looking at it the former looks better. | eng_Latn | 17,106 |
appropriate usage of I am / I'm I am trying to explain to someone why the following quote should use "I am" rather than "I'm": I don't care how old I'm, I still like [media] I feel that I am correct, but cannot recall the rule. | Is there some rule against ending a sentence with the contraction "it's"? I heard this lyric in a song the other day and it just sounded so wrong that I assumed it must be incorrect grammar, but I can't find any specific prohibition that applies. That's what it's. That rolls off your tongue with the grace of a moose in a tutu, but I can't figure out why. There is clearly no problem with ending other sentences with a contraction. These sound fine. I thought I could, but I can't. Stop touching that, it will fall off if you don't. You say that the sky is green, but it isn't. Also, it sounds just fine if you remove the contraction: That's what it is. So what's up with this construction? Should it be avoided? | Asking a question: DO or ARE? When should you ask a question with "do", and when with "are"? In other words, Are you going to Spain next week? Do you like Chinese food? What is the rule here? We don't say Do you go to Spain next week? Are you liking Chinese food? Why is that? | eng_Latn | 17,107 |
Do you say there is a few people or there are a few people? Which one is correct: "There is a few people" because of the A determiner which is singular, or "there are a few people" because of the noun PEOPLE which is plural? Thanks a lot. | "A few" takes a singular or plural verb in present simple tense? Does "a few" take a singular or plural verb in present simple tense? A few men lifts the table. A few men lift the table. A few frogs jumps out of the lake. A few frogs jump out of the lake. I have searched the same question in google, but I see both answers. Which one is correct? How come "a few" is plural? Even though it refers to many, "a" makes "few" a singular, so it should take a singular verb, right? Should I always put "a" in front of "few"? For example, are the following correct? Few men lift the table. Few frogs jump out of the lake. | "Series" – a noun of multitude similar to "lot", "majority", "percentage", "proportion"– verb agreement According to Garner's fourth edition Though serving as a plural when the need arises, series is ordinarily a singular noun. But it is also a noun of multitude, so that phrases such as a series of things take a plural verb. However, the collocation there {has been - is} a series has predominated in print sources. Common nouns of multitude: lot, majority, mass, minority, multitude, percentage, proportion, variety. However, reads When it has the singular sense of "one set," it takes a singular verb, even when series is followed by of and a plural noun: A series of lectures is scheduled. Are these dissimilar usages stylic advice? Secondly, the inversion after there also chooses singular elsewhere; why is it so? When the verb precedes the noun percentage, a singular verb is required. That is, a higher percentage of them are, but there is a higher percentage of them. | eng_Latn | 17,108 |
Disagreement between subject and verb Is there any situation in which disagreement between subject and verb is acceptable? For example, I heard this song ... 'Cause it's late and your mama don't know ... I think it's used in informal contexts. Am I right? | The grammaticality of "that don't impress me much" I'd like to know how the sentence "That don't impress me much" sounds to a native English speaker. The phrase is the title of a song by Shania Twain, and to my eyes it contains a clear error. It is obviously intended, and I want to know what was the effect that the author wanted to obtain. Other examples that come to mind: “She's got a ticket to ride, but she don't care” — The Beatles “My love don't cost a thing” — Jennifer Lopez “It don't matter” — Akon “She don't care about me” — heard in the Lost series “It Don't Mean a Thing” — a jazz album title “The Sun Don't Lie” — another album title | Can cited works hold grammatical positions in sentences? Though I read this style quite often, I was recently told unambiguously by a reviewer that I was NOT supposed to use citations "as if they are objects in a sentence." The following sentence is an example of what the reviewer considered unacceptable: We analyzed the data using the Wilmerding method, guided by [12]. The references section might include the following: [12] Smith, D., Marshawn, J., & Devenshaw, A. 2011. Techniques and Procedures for Applying the Wilmerding Method. Prince Publications, Inc, New York, NY. The Wilmerding method1 is not a step-by-step algorithm that can be precisely followed as if by a machine, and thus [12] does not provide a step-by-step algorithmic description but rather guidance for using the method. [12] is a relatively slim but authoritative textbook about how to use the Wilmerding method. Within this question, for the purpose of discussion, I have intentionally put [12] in grammatical positions where it's an important element of the sentence and the sentence would make less sense without the reference. Sometimes that seems to be the most efficient way to communicate the intended message. Is using a reference as a grammatical sentence element like this OK? Why might this not be considered acceptable? Should I be rewording those sentences? Is it enough of a violation to be worth passing the note on to authors of papers I review? I considered posting this on but it seems more specific to academia than general English usage, and the comment came from a content reviewer rather than a copy editor. is related but it seems to be more about when to put authors names' in vs. outside of the parentheses in an APA-like style. The numbered citation style (as opposed to following APA, for example) is required by the venue. 1: Fictionalized for the purpose of this discussion | eng_Latn | 17,109 |
That creates or which creates? "let's make a robot ___ creates a copy of itself" What would be the right word to use here? That or which? | When to use “that” and when to use “which”, especially in relative clauses When is it appropriate to use that as opposed to which with relative clauses? | Rules for the usage of "me" VS. "myself"? What are general guidelines for the use of "me" and "myself"? Did I describe me or did I describe Maria? OR Did I describe myself or did I describe Maria? | eng_Latn | 17,110 |
Should "are" necessarily be used in "where you at"? I've heard a lot of people saying just "Where you at" instead of "Where are you at"? And when I corrected my friend, he said that it is so colloquial to be corrected. And I also want to ask if it is wrong to end a sentence in preposition. | "Where somebody/something at" ? I'm not a native English speaker, so I would like to have an explanation of that expression: "Where something/somebody at?" Examples : Where Brooklyn at ? (interlude in a Lonely Island album) Where you at ? (seen on a game server, instead of Where are you, I suppose) Are not they supposed to say "Where is/are ..."? | When is it appropriate to end a sentence in a preposition? Like many others, I commonly find myself ending a sentence with a preposition. Yes, it makes me cringe. I usually rewrite the sentence, but sometimes (in emails) I just live with it. To, with... you know who you are. Should I keep fighting myself on this one, or is it okay in some circumstances? | eng_Latn | 17,111 |
Which is correct in this sentence, I or Me "...illustrates another philosophical divide between you and [I/me]." I'm currently in an argument with a friend about this little bit here. Which is the correct pronoun for this sentance, "me" or "I"? | Difference between I and Me I am quite confused with the usage of I and me, Can anybody tell me what should be used in the following sentence: Your husband doesn't believe that You're older than (I / Me). | Is there a correct gender-neutral singular pronoun ("his" vs. "her" vs. "their")? Is there a pronoun I can use as a gender-neutral pronoun when referring back to a singular noun phrase? Each student should save his questions until the end. Each student should save her questions until the end. | eng_Latn | 17,112 |
A fish\Two fish\Two fishes Do I understand the next right? I caught a fish It will mean I just caught some fish in quantity of one. I caugh two fish Means I caught two fish that are of the same species I caught two fishes I caught some indefinite amount of fish of two different species. | Fish vs Fishes for plural use Now, I encountered a sentence in a text book, saying Many fish are specially adapted to live only in certain places. I know that plural of the word fish can be fish as Merriam says But wouldn't it someway or somewhat sound unusual or "too unique"? Is it only to me? | Is this a grammatically correct line in a poem: “Will he roll the dice, and follow it to Vegas?”? I want to use the following line in a poem: "Will he roll the dice, and follow it to Vegas?" A couple of things to note; firstly, obviously I'm using "roll the dice" in both a figurative/idiomatic sense (as in taking a risk), and in a somewhat more literal sense (painting the image of the person actually following the dice that have been rolled to Las Vegas). That being said, my confusion here is if I can get away with using "follow it" or if I need to say "follow them" .... As I've read online "dice" traditionally refers to more than one die (i.e., the plural of die), but in the modern usage, "dice" can also be used to refer to the singular (i.e., just one die). So, it seems like if I was referring to the image of just one die, then the way I phrased it could be correct. However, the image I'm trying to paint is the one usually associated with the phrase "roll the dice" (i.e., rolling two dice)... So could "follow it" still be considered acceptable in this sense... or would I need to use "follow them"?... And if not referring to the dice themselves, could using, could the "it" be taken to refer to the act of rolling the dice, or would that not work either? Thanks so much in advance!! | eng_Latn | 17,113 |
Genitive - singular/plural noun after genitive In the phrase "the boys' rackets", is it implied that each boy has one racket or more than one racket? Should each boy have one racket, how would this be expressed/written? Should each boy have more than one racket, how would this be expressed/written? Another doubt regarding a similar phrase would be: "the boys' mind/minds" - only one mind is possible per boy, but were we to use the plural word "minds", would this imply (grammatically) that each had more than one? | "On their back" or "on their backs"? After the therapy, eight children (43%) became able to crawl/move on their back. Or should I use "on their backs"? Singular because each child only has one back, or plural because we're dealing with eight backs? | How do I pluralize Italian foods, like pasta noodles (spaghetti, macaroni)? Possible Duplicate: Is it proper to say spaghettis for more than one spaghetti noodle? What about macaronis as a plural for more than one macaroni noodle? | eng_Latn | 17,114 |
"These kinds of" or "these kind of"? I'm using a grammar checking service. It tells me these kind of projects is wrong and should be changed to these kinds of projects. I'm not sure about the correctness of this suggestion, so I googled it on the Google Books website. You can take a look at the result and . Both searches returned many results, and these are from books, which I assumed to be correct. Could anyone help to explain? Thanks in advance. | Analysing the "kind(s) of problem(s) are [ones]/[to be]" construction A. These kinds of problem are to be avoided. B. These kind of problems are to be avoided. Are both A and B grammatical? If not, why not? If so, after having noticed the parallelism between A and C, and between B and D, could we say that C and D are "standard" English, too? C. These kinds of problem are ones to avoid. D. These kind of problems are ones to avoid. | SEO Removal Time? I was searching about removing the a domain/site being listed in Web Search Results (like, Google Search) and i found solution, . I believe it will be the solution but what i still need to know is: How long will it take to bring down my Website being listed from Search Engine Results? | eng_Latn | 17,115 |
Reference of a Pronoun I want to know which word does "they" refer to, in the following statements. The question rises because the subject in the beginning sentence is "someone" which is in singular form. The Statements are as follows: Simply this: When someone discounts the idea that the whole block universe really exists, and insists instead that it is only what is happening right now that exists, presumably they mean to include what is happening right now in locations other than where they themselves happen to be. | Is there a correct gender-neutral singular pronoun ("his" vs. "her" vs. "their")? Is there a pronoun I can use as a gender-neutral pronoun when referring back to a singular noun phrase? Each student should save his questions until the end. Each student should save her questions until the end. | Which is correct: "This is her" or "This is she"? Upon answering the telephone, the person calling asks if Joan is available. If Joan is the person who answered the phone, should she say "This is her" or "This is she"? | eng_Latn | 17,116 |
Can "he don't" be right in any case? I know the grammatical correct way is he doesn't but I have seen many people saying don't with singular subjects, is there any case where it's correct. I am just learning, please ignore my mistakes if I did any here. You can tell me my mistakes any time. | Which is correct: "he don't" or "he doesn't"? Which one is correct in a sentence? He don't He doesn't I guess "he doesn't" should be correct because he is third person singular but I've seen some people using do with he. Which one is correct? | Are units in English singular or plural? I am a little bit confused about using units in English, sometimes I hear that people use singular units for plural things, sometimes they use plural ones. Which one is correct? 3 meter(s) long? during a 2 week(s) period? 0.5 dollar(s) | eng_Latn | 17,117 |
What does "try and avoid"phrase mean? Today I saw this "try and avoid" phrase in a sentence . "Try and avoid repeating the problems with the images dataset". What does "try and avoid" in this sentence mean? Is it the same with "try to avoid ? " | Why do we say "try and" [verb] instead of "try to" [verb]? (E.g., "Try and call me tomorrow.") In written and standard semi-formal (and above) spoken English, one would use "try to": Try to be a better person. Try to get the fishhook out of my thumb, please. Try to find a pharmacy when you need one. But in spoken English, we (Americans, at least) usually substitute "try and" for all those cases. "Try to" makes sense because the "to" begins the construction of an infinitive: "try to be", "try to do", "try to act" and so on. "Try and" on the other hand doesn't seem to make any sense. I'm curious how the "try and" crept in, and when. It's really tough to Google small words like these, so I'm not finding anything on the Web. Is it a contraction of something like "Try hard, and ..."? Note: I've seen and it is somewhat related but doesn't tell me what I want to know. Edit Observe how, even on this site, construction. Turning it on its head Note that you can't make a negative construction with "try and": It's raining. Try not to get wet. It's raining. Try not and get wet. [?] Even adding do doesn't help. The following means something different from "try not to get wet." It's raining. Don't try and get wet. Even use of to instead of and there means something else: It's raining. Don't try to get wet. "Try not to get wet" means try to stay dry. "Don't try to get wet" means avoid actively seeking out a soaking, and implies that a soaking might in fact be what you are looking for. MORE I just happened to notice a video from an editor for Merriam-Webster on this very topic, so I include the link here: . | Is this a grammatically correct line in a poem: “Will he roll the dice, and follow it to Vegas?”? I want to use the following line in a poem: "Will he roll the dice, and follow it to Vegas?" A couple of things to note; firstly, obviously I'm using "roll the dice" in both a figurative/idiomatic sense (as in taking a risk), and in a somewhat more literal sense (painting the image of the person actually following the dice that have been rolled to Las Vegas). That being said, my confusion here is if I can get away with using "follow it" or if I need to say "follow them" .... As I've read online "dice" traditionally refers to more than one die (i.e., the plural of die), but in the modern usage, "dice" can also be used to refer to the singular (i.e., just one die). So, it seems like if I was referring to the image of just one die, then the way I phrased it could be correct. However, the image I'm trying to paint is the one usually associated with the phrase "roll the dice" (i.e., rolling two dice)... So could "follow it" still be considered acceptable in this sense... or would I need to use "follow them"?... And if not referring to the dice themselves, could using, could the "it" be taken to refer to the act of rolling the dice, or would that not work either? Thanks so much in advance!! | eng_Latn | 17,118 |
Can adverbs be also direct objects? "The irate customer asked for the chef." The irate customer asked something. (Noun phrase?) Since you can fill in something in place of 'for the chef,' does that mean it is a direct object and an adverb at the same time? | Is the "live" in "He only lived a few days after the accident" intrasitive or transitive? An example sentence from the : [I] He only lived a few days after the accident. [I] means "intransitive verb". He (subject) + lived (verb) + a few days (noun). What part of speech is a few days? From the : number 5 way of life[intransitive always + adverb/preposition, transitive] to have a particular type of life, or live in a particular way used 'transitive verb' like 'She lives a very busy life.' From the ELU question : She is 16 year old. '16 years' as acting as an adverb. My questions are: In "He lived a few days.", is a few days an object (noun) or an adverb? How is it different from "He lived for a few days."? "I walked ten miles." Number + measurement — how can I deal with 'part of speech'? | Is this a grammatically correct line in a poem: “Will he roll the dice, and follow it to Vegas?”? I want to use the following line in a poem: "Will he roll the dice, and follow it to Vegas?" A couple of things to note; firstly, obviously I'm using "roll the dice" in both a figurative/idiomatic sense (as in taking a risk), and in a somewhat more literal sense (painting the image of the person actually following the dice that have been rolled to Las Vegas). That being said, my confusion here is if I can get away with using "follow it" or if I need to say "follow them" .... As I've read online "dice" traditionally refers to more than one die (i.e., the plural of die), but in the modern usage, "dice" can also be used to refer to the singular (i.e., just one die). So, it seems like if I was referring to the image of just one die, then the way I phrased it could be correct. However, the image I'm trying to paint is the one usually associated with the phrase "roll the dice" (i.e., rolling two dice)... So could "follow it" still be considered acceptable in this sense... or would I need to use "follow them"?... And if not referring to the dice themselves, could using, could the "it" be taken to refer to the act of rolling the dice, or would that not work either? Thanks so much in advance!! | eng_Latn | 17,119 |
Correct interpretation of a "double-negative" in American Pop Culture (i.e. "I ain't afraid of no ghost!") In the 2016 film Ghostbusters Dan Aykroyd states: I ain't afraid of no ghost! To which a lady who looks like Jennifer Anniston replies: That's a double negative! That means you ARE afraid of ghosts! Is this interpretation technically correct? I would've thought that a literal interpretation would've implied that he does not fear the absence of ghosts (or the absence of a ghost, or the ghost), rather than that he fears ghosts. Which is correct? | Origin and correctness of “ain’t no”? In contemporary American English usage, I come across sentences like: I ain’t got no money. Ain’t no man like him. Saying ain’t no sounds incorrect to me because it is a double negative. What is the origin of this particular construction? I wasn’t able to find anything online related to the origins of this incorrect usage. | Can cited works hold grammatical positions in sentences? Though I read this style quite often, I was recently told unambiguously by a reviewer that I was NOT supposed to use citations "as if they are objects in a sentence." The following sentence is an example of what the reviewer considered unacceptable: We analyzed the data using the Wilmerding method, guided by [12]. The references section might include the following: [12] Smith, D., Marshawn, J., & Devenshaw, A. 2011. Techniques and Procedures for Applying the Wilmerding Method. Prince Publications, Inc, New York, NY. The Wilmerding method1 is not a step-by-step algorithm that can be precisely followed as if by a machine, and thus [12] does not provide a step-by-step algorithmic description but rather guidance for using the method. [12] is a relatively slim but authoritative textbook about how to use the Wilmerding method. Within this question, for the purpose of discussion, I have intentionally put [12] in grammatical positions where it's an important element of the sentence and the sentence would make less sense without the reference. Sometimes that seems to be the most efficient way to communicate the intended message. Is using a reference as a grammatical sentence element like this OK? Why might this not be considered acceptable? Should I be rewording those sentences? Is it enough of a violation to be worth passing the note on to authors of papers I review? I considered posting this on but it seems more specific to academia than general English usage, and the comment came from a content reviewer rather than a copy editor. is related but it seems to be more about when to put authors names' in vs. outside of the parentheses in an APA-like style. The numbered citation style (as opposed to following APA, for example) is required by the venue. 1: Fictionalized for the purpose of this discussion | eng_Latn | 17,120 |
"Who's going to the movies?" "[Person] and I." or "[Person] and me." This is weird. I always heard the rule about removing the other person's name, but what's the deal in this case? "[Person] and I." would be the subject, so that seems like it is right, but I don't think I would just say "I." in response to the question. Edit: My question was flagged as maybe a duplicate. I suppose it is different because I am asking if I were to include another person in the answer. | "Who wants ice-cream?" — Should I say "(not) I" or "(not) me"? With the enthusiastic question of "Who wants ice-cream?", what is the more correct response? (Not) I. (Not) me. Neither response is a sentence. The first response of "(not) I" sounds stuffy, like it should be followed with an indignant sniff. The second sounds like American idiom and acceptable for casual speech. What do you say? | Conjugation: Do we cite authors or papers? When referencing to another work in a scientific paper, do we cite the paper or its author(s)? This question is intended to clarify the conjugation of the verb that follows the reference -- especially in these cases: One author, two papers: Jane Doe (2015a, 2015b) list-s the very specific conditions under which... -> lists (singular: referencing to Jane Doe) or list (plural: referencing to both papers) Several authors, one paper: John Doe, et al. (2015) claim-s this and that. -> claim (plural: referencing to the multiple authors of the paper) or claims (singular: referencing to the single paper). | eng_Latn | 17,121 |
Why does my spellcheck disallow themself, but not themselves? When I type "themself" my computer browser spellchecker underlines it in red. It's an error. When I right click the word I'm offered 3 alternatives "them self", "them-self", and "themselves". Why is "themselves" correct but "themself" wrong? | The hidden flaw in "singular they"—what to do about reflexive pronouns? We have to a question about gender-neutral pronouns, in which he points to the "singular they" and its long history of use in English. (Note that he also advises against using it.) Example: If someone wants to watch TV tonight, they'll have to do the dishes. This avoids having to say "he or she" in mixed-gender situations. Okay, fine. I'm not going to get my panties in a bunch if people want to talk this way. But it occurrs to me that "singular they"—infelicitous at the best of times—really falls apart when extended into the realm of reflexive pronouns: If someone wants to watch TV tonight, they'll have to do the dishes all by themselves. [?] That feels very wrong. The only alternative, if one paints oneself into that corner, is to flip it back to singular: If someone wants to watch TV tonight, they'll have to do the dishes all by themself. [???] That feels worse. If I'm to state this as a question, I guess I would put it thus: How can use of a "singular they" truly be reconciled? Is it really as much of a linguistic dead end as it feels to me? | Formal writing: "…for my colleagues and {I/me/myself}."? I'm currently using Cambridge English Advanced 1. It's a book that contains past examination papers, and includes numerous samples of authentic writing. This material helps, candidates and teachers, understand what the examiners are ‘testing’ and how these papers are marked. The assessment covers four categories: content, communicative achievement, organisation and language. Each category is awarded a mark between 1 and 5, so the maximum score is 20, and each mark has a brief note attached by the examiner. Any errors of punctuation, orthography, grammar, appropriacy, and vocabulary are left intact. In fact, there are no corrections because the ‘examiner’ does not specify where the errors lie. This can be frustrating, even though spelling mistakes are rare at the advanced level, and errors in style, collocation or register are still relatively easy to identify, sometimes I'll read a phrase that forces me to ponder. Dear Director, [ TEXT ] To conclude, this letter is a polite request to cover the costs of a 2 month language course for my colleagues and me. We would be very pleased if the company would do us this favour. Yours sincerely John Smith The following marks were awarded Content 5 blah, blah, … Communicative Achievement 2 blah, blah, … Organisation 3 blah, blah, … Language 3 blah, blah, … I am able to pick out six minor errors in that brief extract, maybe some users will identify more, maybe some will identify fewer, and maybe some will say that the language used is perfectly acceptable. But if I can help a candidate attain that elusive B, I would be delighted. I am interested in (what could be) the 7th error, emphasised in bold. Because the letter of proposal is formal, I feel the phrase, for my colleagues and me, is jarring. I want to change it to for my colleagues and I, but the antecedent requires an object. You would not say: “This is a request to cover the cost […] for I”. So, why use the subject pronoun I in the expression “my colleagues and…”? Could I use instead, myself? Which of the following is preferable in a formal written proposal? …for my colleagues and me …for my colleagues and I …for my colleagues and myself EDITED: I found a of the writing sample (11/11) if anyone is interested. I've looked at the following question, Some answers appear to be contradictory, the accepted answer says using I and me are both grammatical, which in my example is not true. Moreover, there's no mention of myself, as a possible solution, in the question. | eng_Latn | 17,122 |
Confused about proper nouns like Dad and Mom Im confused because well people say that sometimes you use a capital letter in mom and dad. So when do you use capital letters for mom and dad? | When should "Mom" and "Dad" be capitalized? I am trying to understand capitalization rules with Mom and Dad. I believe I have it correct below, but please let me know if I do not. The one thing I learned from my dad was that it was good to earn the trust of one's children. Dad has shown me how good that a dad can be. One day when I went to his house, and Dad wasn't there, I ran outside.... The above passage is just made-up just so that you would see what I mean about capitalization. Let's put numbers by each one, like so: The one thing I learned from my dad(1) was that it was good to earn the trust of one's children. Dad(2) has shown me how good that a dad(3) can be. One day when I went to his house, and Dad(4) wasn't there, I ran outside.... This is one where I'm not certain. I believe in this sense I'm showing possession here with "my", and it just didn't seem right saying "my Dad". I don't know what the grammar rule is here, or if I even have it right. This one is obvious—it starts the sentence. In this case, I'm using Dad like a name instead of saying "Larry". Therefore, it should be capitalized. Again, just like 3. | LaTeX package "titling", titles with hard line breaks, and \MakeUpperCase I have a document with a title that is spread over several lines using hard line breaks. To configure the title formatting, I use the titling package with code adapted from its documentation: \documentclass{article} \usepackage{titling} \pretitle{\begin{center}\LARGE\sffamily\bfseries} \posttitle{\par\end{center}\vskip 0.5em} \title{Higgelty Pigglety Pop! \\ or \\ There Must Be More to Life} \begin{document} \maketitle \end{document} …and it works perfectly. I now want the title additionally to be in all caps and therefore change the \pretitle command: \pretitle{\begin{center}\LARGE\sffamily\bfseries\MakeUppercase} …and I get the following error message: ! Use of \@icentercr doesn't match its definition. <argument> \def l.12 \maketitle This only happens with a title that includes hard line breaks. What does this error message mean? How can I fix it? | eng_Latn | 17,123 |
"Neither" plural agreement There are four different forms of verb pluralisation agreement I'm curious about: neither thing [has/have] an attribute neither of the things [has/have] an attribute both of the things [has/have] an attribute both things [has/have] an attribute For each of these forms, should "have" be pluralised, or not? My intuitive guesses are singular, singular, plural and plural; but I have no specific justification. | Which is correct, "neither is" or "neither are"? Bob: "Can I set the font color? Can I customize the text?" Frank: "Neither of these options is available. Sorry!" Is "neither is" always correct or should one use "neither are" in some cases and what are the exact rules? of this-is-why-stackexchange-exists :P | How do you pluralize the acronym "POC" ("proof of concept")? Possible Duplicate: What's the plural form of the acronym , short for proof of concept? ...for his contributions to many POCs or ...for his contributions to many POC is not a duplicate as it is focused on cases like "ATMs" where the expanded form "automated teller machines" ends in a noun with a regular plural form ending in "s." In "proof of concept," the noun is in the middle of the abbreviated phrase. If we pluralize the uncontracted phrase, we get "proofs of concept," which has an "s" in the middle rather than at the end. It's unclear from the linked answers how abbreviations with this structure should be pluralized. (POC, POCs, PsOC?) | eng_Latn | 17,124 |
names for repetitive sequences The words once, twice, thrice describe the number of repetitions in a series of such repetitions or possible repetitions. I have searched several authoritative dictionaries & thesauruses without finding other examples. Does anyone know further single words in this sequence? | Is there a word for four times as much, analogous to once, twice, and thrice? Is there a word for 'four times as much', analogous to once, twice, and thrice? | Is this a grammatically correct line in a poem: “Will he roll the dice, and follow it to Vegas?”? I want to use the following line in a poem: "Will he roll the dice, and follow it to Vegas?" A couple of things to note; firstly, obviously I'm using "roll the dice" in both a figurative/idiomatic sense (as in taking a risk), and in a somewhat more literal sense (painting the image of the person actually following the dice that have been rolled to Las Vegas). That being said, my confusion here is if I can get away with using "follow it" or if I need to say "follow them" .... As I've read online "dice" traditionally refers to more than one die (i.e., the plural of die), but in the modern usage, "dice" can also be used to refer to the singular (i.e., just one die). So, it seems like if I was referring to the image of just one die, then the way I phrased it could be correct. However, the image I'm trying to paint is the one usually associated with the phrase "roll the dice" (i.e., rolling two dice)... So could "follow it" still be considered acceptable in this sense... or would I need to use "follow them"?... And if not referring to the dice themselves, could using, could the "it" be taken to refer to the act of rolling the dice, or would that not work either? Thanks so much in advance!! | eng_Latn | 17,125 |
"That was me" vs. "That was I" When telling a story about myself from the past, I have found myself in an internal debate over whether the correct way to segue into the present is: That was me twelve years ago. Or: That was I twelve years ago. My instincts tell me the first is correct (object pronoun after a verb and it sounds better to my ears). But, I'm not sure if pronouns after linking verbs should be object pronouns. Which is correct? | Which is correct: "This is her" or "This is she"? Upon answering the telephone, the person calling asks if Joan is available. If Joan is the person who answered the phone, should she say "This is her" or "This is she"? | When to use an object pronoun or a possessive adjective before a gerund The rule says that we can use a possessive adjective or an object pronoun before a gerund. Is there a rule that says when to use each or are they interchangeable? Some say that it's wrong to use an object pronoun before a gerund. | eng_Latn | 17,126 |
Definitive grammar resources for usage of neo-pronouns at SE I am not an English language native, and as such, I may be less sensitive to the difference between open usage of neo-pronouns and plain bad English. In the light of the recent discussions, is it possible to provide grammar resources which I should rely on? Which of the style guides (e.g. ) should I follow in general in this respect? | What does the Code of Conduct say about pronouns? Please leave any feedback or questions about this FAQ on . Two weeks ago, we to directly address concerns over pronoun usage. We tried to anticipate likely questions, but… missed the mark by quite a lot. Based on Gareth McCaughan’s excellent post, “”, we’ve gone back to the drawing board and written a new FAQ that aims to address actual questions that have been frequently asked in these discussions. If you read only one thing, the answer to question #1 under The Basics sums up our goals in publishing this guidance: It would be rude to refer to a man as "she" or a woman as "he". Some people are neither male nor female and might, for instance, ask to be referred to as "they". When someone indicates what pronouns should be used to refer to them, please use the pronouns they state as you would others. This is a learning process for most of us - from authors to readers to moderators to employees of Stack Exchange, Inc. Let’s all try to approach this with good intentions and a willingness to learn from one another. Big thanks to Gareth for leading by example here, and to everyone who has stepped up to ask and answer the important questions! What's all this stuff about pronouns in The Code of Conduct? The has two direct references to pronouns: “Use stated pronouns (when known).” “Prefer gender-neutral language when uncertain.” What does all of this mean and how can I as a user understand and follow the CoC guidance? | Why do proof authors use natural language sentences to write proofs? I haven't read very many proofs. The majority of the ones that I've read, I've read in my first-year proofs textbook. Nevertheless, its first chapter expatiates on the proper use of English in mathematical proofs, so I suspect that most proof authors do use both English (or another natural language) and formal proof systems for writing their proofs. However, I can't imagine many circumstances where mathematical notation and a formal proof system wouldn't suffice to convey the author's pertinent thoughts. I suspect that proof authors have good reasons for making use of both English and formal expressions in their proofs, but I can't think of what those reasons are. Why do proof authors use English and formal expressions to write proofs? Are there stylistic rules (or guidelines) that state how, and in what parts of the proof, an author should, and shouldn't, use English? | eng_Latn | 17,127 |
Either Pronuciation is OK? or not OK? Either Pronunciation is OK? or not OK? My wife is learning English and she came up with the “either problem”. What to reply? I had always used both pronunciations but in a specific way and seem to remember being taught that way. However, when I went to check this on the net this did not seem to be the case until I saw the comment posted below which was originally posted on this site. This fits with my usage. My Question; Are we correct? is this just an old rule that has become forgot with time? P.S. I am from the UK, Midlands. Original post: I found that I tend to use "eye-ther" before words beginning with a consonant sound and "ee-ther" before words beginning with a vowel sound. The same applies when I use neither. E.g. "eye-ther this or that", "eye-ther him or her", "ee-ther a pineapple or a grape", "ee-ther orange or black" | Is there a rule in British English about how to pronounce "either"? There are two common pronunciations of "either": British /ˈaɪðər/ and American /ˈiːðər/. If Americans are more or less consistent in this regard, then the Brits seem to be freely using both. In fact, from what I can tell, "either this or that" is more often in the first form, whereas "me either" is in the second. But I may be wrong. Is there any kind of an informal rule in the modern British English with regard to this? | Equivalent of "both" when referring to three or more items? What would be the correct word to use when referring to three or more items, in the same manner as the word both? For example, using two words, with the word both: "There are several recommendations I have to further improve the sites — both to improve their profit, and decrease their cost." Using three words, with a blank space in place of the correct word: "There are several recommendations I have to further improve the sites — _ to improve their profit, decrease their cost and improve their usability." So, what would be the correct word to use in place of the __? | eng_Latn | 17,128 |
Them vs Their in a sentence Which one is correct? Their quitting on you is their loss. Them quitting on you is their loss. | When to use an object pronoun or a possessive adjective before a gerund The rule says that we can use a possessive adjective or an object pronoun before a gerund. Is there a rule that says when to use each or are they interchangeable? Some say that it's wrong to use an object pronoun before a gerund. | "They interviewed several candidates who/whom he thought had the experience he required." They interviewed several candidates who he thought had the experience and qualifications he required. My test prep book says this should be "who" because of the subordinate clause's predicate: They interviewed several candidates who he thought had the experience and qualifications he required. I feel like it should be "whom" as it's the object of the main clause. The interviewed several candidates whom he thought had the experience and qualifications he required. Who's right? | eng_Latn | 17,129 |
Which one is correct, "Tasks for John and I have been created" or "Tasks for John and me have been created"? I am confused between the texts below. Please help me with the correct one. Tasks for John and I have been created Tasks for John and me have been created Tasks for John and myself have been created | Formal writing: "…for my colleagues and {I/me/myself}."? I'm currently using Cambridge English Advanced 1. It's a book that contains past examination papers, and includes numerous samples of authentic writing. This material helps, candidates and teachers, understand what the examiners are ‘testing’ and how these papers are marked. The assessment covers four categories: content, communicative achievement, organisation and language. Each category is awarded a mark between 1 and 5, so the maximum score is 20, and each mark has a brief note attached by the examiner. Any errors of punctuation, orthography, grammar, appropriacy, and vocabulary are left intact. In fact, there are no corrections because the ‘examiner’ does not specify where the errors lie. This can be frustrating, even though spelling mistakes are rare at the advanced level, and errors in style, collocation or register are still relatively easy to identify, sometimes I'll read a phrase that forces me to ponder. Dear Director, [ TEXT ] To conclude, this letter is a polite request to cover the costs of a 2 month language course for my colleagues and me. We would be very pleased if the company would do us this favour. Yours sincerely John Smith The following marks were awarded Content 5 blah, blah, … Communicative Achievement 2 blah, blah, … Organisation 3 blah, blah, … Language 3 blah, blah, … I am able to pick out six minor errors in that brief extract, maybe some users will identify more, maybe some will identify fewer, and maybe some will say that the language used is perfectly acceptable. But if I can help a candidate attain that elusive B, I would be delighted. I am interested in (what could be) the 7th error, emphasised in bold. Because the letter of proposal is formal, I feel the phrase, for my colleagues and me, is jarring. I want to change it to for my colleagues and I, but the antecedent requires an object. You would not say: “This is a request to cover the cost […] for I”. So, why use the subject pronoun I in the expression “my colleagues and…”? Could I use instead, myself? Which of the following is preferable in a formal written proposal? …for my colleagues and me …for my colleagues and I …for my colleagues and myself EDITED: I found a of the writing sample (11/11) if anyone is interested. I've looked at the following question, Some answers appear to be contradictory, the accepted answer says using I and me are both grammatical, which in my example is not true. Moreover, there's no mention of myself, as a possible solution, in the question. | Is "has or will read" grammatical? I just wrote in an ELL chat room. But looking at it (or more accurately, listening to my "inner voice" trying to "read it aloud"), I find it bothers me a lot. A quick check on Google Books finds a claimed 432 written instances of , and 910 instances of , which suggests a significant minority of writers don't have a problem with the fact that the two different read's don't sound the same. When I check the same construction with other verbs that don't have the same written form for past participle and present tense, it seems people nearly always include both (e.g. :1230, :8; :357, :7). I'm not usually a big fan of "grammatical rules", but it seems to me there "ought" to be a rule that you shouldn't delete one instance of the verb unless it's "the same" as the one you're keeping. And it also seems to me that since language is primarily spoken, "the same" ought to mean "sounds the same when spoken", not "looks the same when written". Can anyone who knows more than me about formal rules of grammar settle this one? As an aside, offhand I can't think of any verb where the past participle and present tense sound the same but are written differently (maybe there aren't any), but would deletion be okay in that case? | eng_Latn | 17,130 |
Automotive: "Part-makers" or "Parts Makers"? I see the term "parts maker" in use a lot in automotive industry news, and I'm wondering if the term is a correct construction (grammatically speaking). When this term is used in Japanese it is always written with an S sound on the end (whether talking about one or more than one): パーツメーカー So this may contribute to the frequent inclusion of the S in English as well - at least in documents translated from Japanese. However, such cases most likely represent a relatively small percentage. Web searches produce inconsistent results. Note this Wikipedia page, for example: There are subcategories here such as "Motorcycle parts manufacturers" and "Automotive part retailers". So depending on the word that follows "part", the S may be included or excluded. Let's compare the usage using Google Trends: Maker: Supplier: Manufacturer: Why is there so much inconsistency here? And what do English scholars have to say about this? | When are attributive nouns plural? Sorry for the title, it is not very evident and intuitive but I really do not how to tell it better... Well, you know, several times, or better, many times, we use this form: If I want to say: "development of special weapons was the first point in Hitler's program..." I will say this (a better form): "special weapon development was..." OK... is it "special weapon development" or "special weapons development" (note the plural...) what's the grammar rule in order to understand how to use this very used form? | Marking plural of code words In my blog (which is about programming) I often use reserved words from different programming languages. Like this: When column is nullable in both tables, this query won't return a match of two NULLs for the reasons described above: no NULLs are equal. Here, NULL is a programming language keyword. For numerous reasons, I mark them with <code> tag so they are rendered with a fixed width font, not translated into the foreign languages by Google Translate, can easily be seen on the page etc. In the example above, which would be the best way to mark the plural? NULLs NULL s NULL's NULLs NULLS Option 1 looks ugly on the page (the word and the plural marker are rendered in different colors and fonts) Option 2 adds a space between the word and the plural marker Option 3 looks nicest but is not correct Options 4 and 5 may leave the reader under impression that NULLS is a reserved word (which is not true) and this may be confusing. Also, Google Translate would leave the word as is which would be definitely wrong in other languages. What would be the least of 5 evils? | eng_Latn | 17,131 |
Singular to plural noun Many nouns that end in ‑f are made plural by changing the ‑f to ‑v‑ and adding ‑es. +----------+-----------+ | Singular | Plural | +----------+-----------+ | half | halves | | leaf | leaves | | shelf | shelves | +----------+-----------+ But some nouns that end in ‑f are made plural simply by adding ‑s. +----------+-----------+ | Singular | Plural | +----------+-----------+ | chief | chiefs | | roof | roofs | | cliff | cliffs | +----------+-----------+ Some nouns that end in ‑f can be made plural in two ways, either by adding ‑s or ‑ves: +----------+--------------------+ | Singular | Plural | +----------+--------------------+ | scarf | scarfs or scarves | | hoof | hoofs or hooves | | dwarf | dwarfs or dwarves | | wharf | wharfs or wharves | +----------+--------------------+ Now my question is how to determine whether to use only ‑s or to change the ‑f to ‑v‑ and add ‑es? | Why is there no consistency in the plural forms of words ending on an "f" (e.g. safe, roof, dwarf, etc.)? The plural form of leaf is leaves, although according to leafs is also correct. Dwarf can be pluralized as either dwarfs or dwarves. Conversely, the words roof and safe are pluralized as roofs and safes. Is there any logic underpinning these variations? Is there a historical trend where words that were previously pluralized as -ves are now being increasingly pluralized as -fs? | Usage of singular or plural SI base units when written in both symbol as well as name I have multiple doubts related to the usage of singular or plural SI base units when written in both symbol as well as name. I have framed this question under two parts, namely, Part (a) and Part (b). Each part has three sentences which I have written on the basis of my understanding. Please answer these 6 sentences/questions. Part (a): says that while using prefix for e.g., centi as in centimeter, it is l = 75 cm long.(correct) l = 75 cms long. (wrong) Does this rule is used for all SI prefixes (having powers of 10)? In this regard, we should be saying, or writing that, "how many cm are there in one metre?" (while saying we should say centimter or centimetres?) Please strike-through the wrong SI unit in the following sentences. My weight is 70 kg / kgs, or My weight is 70 kilogram / kilograms. Part (b): and the page next to above web link says, we should write: 2.6 m/s, or 2.6 metres per second. In this regard, we should say, or write: Its speed is 0.26 metres per second. This pipe is 0.75 metres long. How many cm are there in 2 metres? | eng_Latn | 17,132 |
Use of the preposition "by" along with "which" There is a difference in the difficulty by which the two different objects can be lifted up. Is "by" correct here? Does "difficulty by which" sound natural? is there maybe a better alternative? Thanks a lot in advance! | "To which", "by which", "on which" etc I have come across the phrases like "to which","for which", "by which", "on which" and so on(using a preposition with a relative pronoun). e.g. The chair on which the body was found.. Could someone please explain if there's a particular rule to be followed when building/using them? Can I use any preposition before 'which'? What if I say "The chair which the body was found on"? How would I decide which preposition to be put? Can I use other relative pronouns too? Thanks in advance. | Had it not been vs If it were not for I've just seen the following sentence on a band's biography: Had it not been for a studio theft, the band might never have made that song. Then I was wondering if I can change this sentence to: If it were not for a studio theft, the band might never have made that song. Is the second sentence correct? Are they interchangeable? Thanks in advance. | eng_Latn | 17,133 |
Is it OK to use "it" to refer to human beings? In my understanding, "it" can only be used to refer to objects other than human beings. However, I just found a sentence as follow from a book. It is Mr. Kenta who came at 8 this morning. Is it grammatically correct? | Which pronoun to refer to "person"? It? He or She? They? "When he found his seat on the plane, Sam recognized the person who was sitting in the seat next to his. It? She? was a woman he knew." Which is more common/natural? Isn't 'it' more correct – grammatically speaking – than 'she', since 'a person' can be a 'he' or a 'she', and obviously you cannot use the singular 'they' here? | taller than any student or taller than any other student Which of the following sentences is correct? a) 1. John is taller than any student in his class. 2. John is taller than any other student in his class. b) 1. No student is taller than John in his class. 2. No other student is taller than John in his class. | eng_Latn | 17,134 |
When to use the plural of "crop"? Is one of these two right and the other wrong? There aren’t many farms out here, but the few fields he does see have already been emptied of their crop. There aren’t many farms out here, but the few fields he does see have already been emptied of their crops. If both are right, how does the meaning change? | "On their back" or "on their backs"? After the therapy, eight children (43%) became able to crawl/move on their back. Or should I use "on their backs"? Singular because each child only has one back, or plural because we're dealing with eight backs? | Why are there no Pokémon near me? I see pictures online of everyone having all these Pokémon to catch being everywhere around them, but it seems like I can only ever see one or two. I live in a rural area, but even walking miles through the farmland, it's rare to find any Pokémon. Why is this? How can I find more Pokémon? | eng_Latn | 17,135 |
Asking here because I'm having a bear of a time trying to Google this. Is there a name for the structure, often observed in spoken English, in which a sentence begins with a noun phrase followed by a comma and a pronoun that serves as the subject of the sentence, with the antecedent of the pronoun being the preceding noun phrase? It's similar to the way stress pronouns are often used in French (e.g. "Moi, je m'appelle..."). Here's an example of what I'm talking about: "Students with more than one major, they tend to have very little free time." Anyone aware of a consensus on the correctness of this structure in an informal register? | Is it now considered acceptable to follow a proper noun ... or any noun ... with a pronoun? E.g. The President he issued a new executive order. | In propositional logic, the statement "If pigs can fly, then elephants can lay eggs." validates to true because the antecedent validates to false. In other words, given $a \rightarrow b$, if a is false, the entire statement is true. Why? Just because the antecendent is false doesn't mean that another fact depends on it, right? | eng_Latn | 17,136 |
(..) those who stand to profit from our working harder, I've noticed this pattern very often, but I don't know how or when to use it. The following (...) those who stand to profit from us working harder, would be right as well, right? Is there a difference in meaning? Or in context of use maybe? Thanks in advance! For reference, the sentence is taken from the fourth paragraph from the end in . | I assume that the following sentences are grammatically correct: He resents your being more popular than he is. Most of the members paid their dues without my asking them. They objected to the youngest girl's being given the command position. What do you think about his buying such an expensive car? We were all sorry about Jane's losing her parents like that. I'm still getting used to this possessive gerund structure. It sounded so weird to me at first. Is the structure used in both formal and informal contexts? Are there any alternative structures that result in the same meaning and are more frequently used? (Examples taken from ) | The entire site is blank right now. The header and footer are shown, but no questions. | eng_Latn | 17,137 |
I recently saw this sentence, "the system has not been yet used in both large and small cities". I wonder if both can be used in negative sentences like this? If not, how can "either" be used in such a sentence where two names are mentioned afterwards? we cannot say EITHER large And small cities. also both refers to positive sentences. Thank you in advance | Hello native English speakers! I want to ask you about either and both. I tried to find similar questions in this site but I think they were not same with these ones. My questions are; I was invited to two parties, but I couldn't go to ------- of them. I took two books with me on holidays, but I didn't read ------- of them. I choose both for questions 1 and 2. But the right answers were either. But I think both and either are correct either. Am I right? Thank you in advance! | Example sentence: I love when your dog just lets you sit there to pet them. You don’t necessarily know if they are enjoying it, but they love you enough to just sit there with you for a bit. Is this correct? We assume the words "you" and "your" refer to the speaker of the sentence, and not to the listener, as second-person usually does. But it also refers to dog owners in general. I have always been curious about this. | eng_Latn | 17,138 |
In the book Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing is says the word "mom" is a proper noun in the following context and should be capitalized: "How's Mom these days". My question is: should the word "mom" be capitalized in the following sentence: "She became a mom". | I am trying to understand capitalization rules with Mom and Dad. I believe I have it correct below, but please let me know if I do not. The one thing I learned from my dad was that it was good to earn the trust of one's children. Dad has shown me how good that a dad can be. One day when I went to his house, and Dad wasn't there, I ran outside.... The above passage is just made-up just so that you would see what I mean about capitalization. Let's put numbers by each one, like so: The one thing I learned from my dad(1) was that it was good to earn the trust of one's children. Dad(2) has shown me how good that a dad(3) can be. One day when I went to his house, and Dad(4) wasn't there, I ran outside.... This is one where I'm not certain. I believe in this sense I'm showing possession here with "my", and it just didn't seem right saying "my Dad". I don't know what the grammar rule is here, or if I even have it right. This one is obvious—it starts the sentence. In this case, I'm using Dad like a name instead of saying "Larry". Therefore, it should be capitalized. Again, just like 3. | I am very confused. Unless I am mistaken, I know "it" has to be a noun of some sort, but I am unable to figure out what noun "it" is referring to. What is "it" in the following sentence: It is clear that Bob likes doughnuts. Heres another couple of examples: It is impossible to fly. | eng_Latn | 17,139 |
Why is it that when I say "I will give this book to my daughter", I am using the verb "give" and the preposition "to", but "to" is not used in the following: "What kind of names do people in your culture give pets?" | Consider these two sentences: "I gave him a pencil," and, "I gave a pencil to him." Is it correct that the important part of the sentence is placed at the end? When we want to emphasize the pencil that I gave him, must we say, "I gave him a pencil?" When we want to emphasize that it is him to whom I gave a pencil, must we say, "I gave a pencil to him?" | I am really confused. Which preposition is correct? She is in/at the park. They are in/at the park. I am in/at the park. Should I use in or at in these sentences? | eng_Latn | 17,140 |
I mean, I do read some articles about how to distinguish between those three, but I found that when I wrote stories or blog entries, the rules that I've read is impractical to remember. I found myself going over all the articles over again to decide which one to use, almost for every single sentence. Can you give a very simple principal rule of thumb, which may cover a large portion of their usage rules? I understand that there's no single "one rule over them all", but at least "one rule over most of them", which I can remember while I write sentences, is already fine by me. :) | I am really confused. Which preposition is correct? She is in/at the park. They are in/at the park. I am in/at the park. Should I use in or at in these sentences? | I'd never heard of anycast until a few seconds ago when I read "". The wikipedia "" article on it is quite formal and doesn't really evoke a mental picture of how it would be used. Can someone explain in a few informal sentences what "anycast" is, how you configure it (just in a general sense), and what its benefits are (what does it make easier)? | eng_Latn | 17,141 |
I was wondering, because I couldn’t find that information anywhere, which version would be correct. Let’s suppose somebody is telling me about :-) their :-) friend. I don’t know anything about the gender of that friend yet and I want to know how old... and here’s the question: (...) how old they are. (...) how old they is. It’s about one specific friend that I don’t know the gender of. Of course I could ask: „How old is your friend?” Or „How old is he or she?” but I’d like to use Singular they if possible. So, should I ask: "How old is they?" or "How old are they?"? Or maybe Singular they doesn’t work here? | There are many (duplicate) questions about the acceptance, popularity and history of singular they (and their, them and themself) around here, it even got a tag of its own. If I didn’t miss anything, however, the proper verb form hasn’t been questioned yet. As we all know, English third person singular pronouns (it, she, he and one, +body), names (Alice, Bob, …) and nouns (student, teacher, …) demand the +(e)s suffix be added to the finite verb form in simple present, where some auxiliary verbs have a “special” form (is < *bes / *ares and has < *haves). All other subjects don’t, including plural third person pronoun they. When the plural you replaced thou (with thee, thy / thine), the other marked verb form that had remained in English – i.e. suffix +(e)st or +t – vanished, too. The first and second persons only ever appear as pronouns (I, we; you), not names or nouns, so there was no strong inclination to keep the verbal inflection. The second person precedent would suggest that singular they be used with uninflected verb forms which is how it’s usually encountered in the wild. Assuming that they someday replaces he and she (and maybe it) it would lead to disagreement with the words the pronoun stands in for: Alice goes to her place by herself. Bob goes to his place by himself. Alice and Bob go to their place by themselves. – (common) Alice and Bob go to their places by themselves. – (separate) She goes to her place by herself. He goes to his place by himself. They go to their place by themselves. They go to their places by themselves. They ?goes to their place by themself. ditto They go to their place by themselves. They go to their places by themselves. They ?go to their place by ?themselves. ditto They go to their place by themselves. They go to their places by themselves. So why doesn’t singular they afford s on present-tense verbs like all other third person singular subjects do? I learned about singular they only long after I had been taught English as a second language in school. That’s why it’s still a conscious decision to use it and hence I could easily adapt to use s forms with it, but would that sound and look funny / strange / wrong to native speakers? | Making adult decisions are/is really not fun. What is the proper answer and why? My gut says "is" but I can't explain why. | eng_Latn | 17,142 |
Do you always have to put other people before yourself? When you are telling a story about yourself and another person, it is correct to reference the other person first. For example, Tim and I went shopping. Given that rule, then is this also the case in the following type of sentence, where you’re forming a possessive of two people, one of whom is you yourself: Please see attached Paul's and my ideas on this subject. This doesn't look at all right to me, but aside from rearranging the whole sentence I can't see how to make it right. Can I write: Please see attached myself/my/mine and Paul's ideas on this subject. or does that go against the whole rule about putting the other person first? I know I can make the sentence work by changing it around but I would like to know if there is a rule for this type of sentence. | I just stumbled upon a : My wife and I's seafood collaboration dinner. How does it look? Sure enough, the top comment immediately points out that it should be "my wife's and my". However, a cross-post to the Grammar subreddit produced : It's fine as it is written. "my wife and I" is a noun phrase, functioning as a subjective pronoun in the singular and made possessive with the apostrophe. It is exactly the same as "our". It seems weird because you would never use "I's" on its own but it is not on its own here - it is part of a noun phrase. That's a rather intriguing argument. Does it hold any water? | Example sentence: I love when your dog just lets you sit there to pet them. You don’t necessarily know if they are enjoying it, but they love you enough to just sit there with you for a bit. Is this correct? We assume the words "you" and "your" refer to the speaker of the sentence, and not to the listener, as second-person usually does. But it also refers to dog owners in general. I have always been curious about this. | eng_Latn | 17,143 |
If the user was to store data.... (or) If the user were to store data.... we normally use If I were, If they were but this usage confuses me. I've tried searching in search engines but haven't found any answer! | If I was... If I were... When is it correct to use "If I was" vs. "If I were" in standard English? | Possible Duplicate: I would like to know if when I'm writing about a "user" (in the broad sense), what do I use? Example: "from the user’s perspective, saving a file is very easy; ? only needs..." What is correct: she, he, she or he, or they. | eng_Latn | 17,144 |
I work for a company who, for sake of argument, are called Scottish Chickens. When writing to our customers, should we write that "Scottish Chickens is planning to carry out work to improve the situation." OR should we write that "Scottish Chickens are planning to carry out work to improve the situation? I prefer the latter but would appreciate your view on this. Regards, GRL | I'd say Microsoft have a way of bending the rules and I know that McLaren have won the championship. While this sounds strange, I believe it is correct English (sorry, I'm not native). But when it's a small company, would you still use it this way? Is a company always plural, or are small companies singular? I.e., would you say Bakery Johnson makes fine bread or Bakery Johnson make fine bread? Is it My book seller, Woody's, have moved or is it has moved? | Some conditions require that a person lie in bed all the time until recovered. Is there a name for such conditions or people experiencing them at the moment? For example, I am currently <bed sick> and can't help you with your homework. I tried looking for bed sick but hit a dead end. | eng_Latn | 17,145 |
"Prove that there exist 4 people in the waiting room who all know each other..." This is a part of a math problem. Should the "exist" be "exists" or is it correct the way it currently is? | I know the usage of This is a new car. This is singular. These are some books for you. These is plural. Shall we use There exists some people who agree with me. There exist some people who agree with me. Which one is the correct usage and why? | This is something that I always find a bit hard to explain to others: Why do XML namespaces exist? When should we use them and when should we not? What are the common pitfalls when working with namespaces in XML? Also, how do they relate to XML schemas? Should XSD schemas always be associated with a namespace? | eng_Latn | 17,146 |
I recently heard someone say 'between he and I there's difference' Is it correct not to use him and me? | When the phrase is used as an object, why so many native speakers are saying "you and I" instead of "you and me"? I'm not a native speaker but I thought "you and me" is correct. Not sure if this falls into the same category, but "Just between you and me" sounds more natural than "Just between you and I". | I want to know the correct form: He and I will go there or He and me will go there. Which is correct? | eng_Latn | 17,147 |
Which of the following two sentences is correct: Jon (and Michael) is smart. Jon (and Michael) are smart. This example is clearly contrived but my question is whether the sentence should be grammatically correct when you erase the text in parentheses (Jon is smart) or should it be grammatically correct when read with the text in parentheses (Jon and Michael are smart). | If a set of parentheses lies between a subject and its verb, and the parentheses contain an substitutive subject whose singularity/plurality disagrees with the original subject, whose singularity/plurality should be chosen for the verb? In other words, in the following example, should "questions" (and its verb "are") be singular, or should they remain plural as shown? Many (if not every) questions on this StackExchange are answered. My intuition tells me that the two words in question should remain in plural forms, since the text in parentheses only interrupts the sentence (and the sentence would be grammatically incorrect if everything in parentheses were removed and the words were in singular form). On the other hand, when read aloud (assuming one reads the text in parentheses), this has an uncomfortable sound to it, and I've seen others write in what would be the above example's singular-form case, so I'm curious to find out which is correct. And, thinking about it, I suppose the same question would apply when commas are used in place of parentheses. | Some conditions require that a person lie in bed all the time until recovered. Is there a name for such conditions or people experiencing them at the moment? For example, I am currently <bed sick> and can't help you with your homework. I tried looking for bed sick but hit a dead end. | eng_Latn | 17,148 |
Is the following sentence correct? A number of researchers are expected to attend the conference Notice that the sentence is using the plural verb "are" after "researchers" but I don't know if it needs the singular verb "is" instead, since it says "A number" before "researchers". | I looked up a few grammar-teaching websites (in Chinese language). The website says many people do not use the phrase "A xxx of" correctly because they do not identify the subject of the phrase correctly. The website says phrases like "A range of; A high percentage of" is singular, while "a number of; a group of; a couple of; a total of" is plural. Therefore according to the website, the correct sentences should be as follows. A wide range of courses is available. ("A wide range" is the subject) A high percentage of peptides that are made of amino acids is present in the sample. ("A high percentage" is the subject) A number/ group/ couple of people were killed in the earthquake.("people" is the subject ) A total of 230 employees were laid off. ("employees" is the subject) I don't get the pattern here. All of this looks (or should I use "look"?) arbitrary to me. In fact I thought this phrase is supposed to be arbitrary and whether the phrase is plural or singular should depend on the the person's own judgment. How do I identify the correct subject in the "A xxx of" phrase? | This question is also open on EL&U: Considering the amount of controversy it aroused, I believe it's past "Learners'" level. An edit was suggested to my sentence. There was were an orange, some grapes, two apples and a small pile of cherries on the plate. In my native language plurality of the verb always follows plurality of the first element on the list. There were an orange,... sounds awkward to me, no matter what follows up. My simple solution was reordering: There were some grapes, an orange, two apples and a small pile of cherries on the plate. But that's not the first time I faced this situation and I'd like to know what the rules of grammar say about that — was my editor overzealous or am I trying to copy rules of my language that don't apply in English? | eng_Latn | 17,149 |
In the following sentence, is it better to use or omit the word 'that'? They called and told me (that?) I will need to take a helicopter. After reading , I see that it is technically required in very formal writing, but not required for general conversation. What about in common business writing, or on StackExchange, such in the previous sentence? | To mean "He is a friend of mine who I love" or "He is a friend of mine that I love", can I say "He is a friend of mine I love"? When I omit "who" or "that" in that sentence, it sounds wrong to me. I think I am not used to that structure. What do you think? Note: I know (that) relative pronouns can be dropped like in "He is someone (that/who) I love", but in the sentence I gave, I think it is wrong to omit it because "a friend" was already modified by "of mine". Context: I am talking about a friend, and I am saying I love him. | Is there any specific word for a person who is always online on the Internet? I am just curious to know because staying online is like a profession nowadays. | eng_Latn | 17,150 |
How to distinguish between "each" and "every"? | "every" vs "each"? | "every" vs "each"? | eng_Latn | 17,151 |
What is the correct way to indicate a singular/plural that ends in (ies) | Parenthetical pluralization of words ending in '-y' | "None" as plural indefinite pronoun | eng_Latn | 17,152 |
Why is the plural of "number one" "number ones" and not "numbers one"? | Pluralizing Noun Phrase? | Is this correct? "One of the things that makes him great is..." | eng_Latn | 17,153 |
Whose VS. which | Can “whose” refer to an inanimate object? | 'Which', 'whose' or something else? | eng_Latn | 17,154 |
Applying a verb to two subjects | What form of the verb is used with compound subjects containing "or"? | Should I use the singular or plural verb in mathematical formulae ("Two and two make/makes four")? | eng_Latn | 17,155 |
How to decide whether I should use “we” in an essay? | Choice of personal pronoun in single-author papers | Please don't refer to 2019 as 'a great year' | eng_Latn | 17,156 |
Do you use the masculine or feminine with "victim"? | Is there a correct gender-neutral singular pronoun ("his" vs. "her" vs. "their")? | antonym for beneficiary | eng_Latn | 17,157 |
Compound subject verb agreement | When should we use proximity rule in "either/or", and "neither/nor"? | What form of the verb is used with compound subjects containing "or"? | eng_Latn | 17,158 |
The usage of "myself" - possessive | When is it correct to use "yourself" and "myself" (versus "you" and "me")? | When is it correct to use "yourself" and "myself" (versus "you" and "me")? | eng_Latn | 17,159 |
Given “a player” as antecedent, when should the pronoun be “he” or “she”? | Reason for the current trend to use «she» as the gender-neutral pronoun? | antonym for beneficiary | eng_Latn | 17,160 |
The use of was and were with singular nouns | When should I use the subjunctive mood? | I saw one of my classmates who was/were? | eng_Latn | 17,161 |
Missing Part of Speech? Gender Neutral third person pronoun | Is there a gender-neutral pronoun that can replace “his” or “her”? | They are quite full up this year. | eng_Latn | 17,162 |
Is “I hate his doing that” old-fashioned? | When to use an object pronoun or a possessive adjective before a gerund | They are quite full up this year. | eng_Latn | 17,163 |
How to use who V.S. whom | What’s the rule for using “who” and “whom” correctly? | Why not use "which"? What to use then? | eng_Latn | 17,164 |
Are there one or more words that take only a singular form? | Does English have any singularia tantum besides mass nouns? | Should I use the singular or plural verb in mathematical formulae ("Two and two make/makes four")? | eng_Latn | 17,165 |
does the word PERSONS exist? Should I only use it for singular? PERSON | Person, Persons, People, Peoples | Person, Persons, People, Peoples | eng_Latn | 17,166 |
Passive voice vs. using "I" in a sole-author paper | Using first person or third person in papers? | Choice of personal pronoun in single-author papers | eng_Latn | 17,167 |
In academic papers, 'We evaluated X' vs. 'X is evaluated' | Proper use of passive and active voices? | EL expressions not evaluated in JSP | eng_Latn | 17,168 |
I don't care for him so much. But SHE, I care a great deal for | Is there a sentence that begins with “them”? | When can we use 'much' in affirmative clauses? | eng_Latn | 17,169 |
"Can you send me Fred and your flight information?" | Compound possessives and yours | They are quite full up this year. | eng_Latn | 17,170 |
When did it become incorrect to use apostrophes with possessive pronouns? | Origins of possessive pronouns | Origins of possessive pronouns | eng_Latn | 17,171 |
A phrase to describe when a person is faced with 'a tough decision'? I am translating a novel, and have reached a point where I am in doubt of how to translate it. The main character stands in a situation, where she has to make a tough decision. Which phrases could be used in English to express this? If, rather than a figure of speech, it could be a physical action, that would be preferred, but anything will do. | Idiomatic expression for a difficult choice This has cropped up several times in the past couple of months, and I've been struggling to find a fitting word to describe this phenomenon. I'll describe it: You have two choices(no, it's not Hobson's choice). Both of them are desirable, yet both of them each have a tiny part which is most undesirable, such as a tough condition, or a demanding clause. You have difficulty deciding which one to pick. Whenever something like that comes up, I think of the expression "Can't burn a candle at both ends", but I'm not looking for that. I'm looking for an expression that describes a difficult choice. Any suggestions? EDIT: It's idiomatic. I'm quite sure it is. It's an expression of some sort. And no, it isn't "dilemma" | Is this a grammatically correct line in a poem: “Will he roll the dice, and follow it to Vegas?”? I want to use the following line in a poem: "Will he roll the dice, and follow it to Vegas?" A couple of things to note; firstly, obviously I'm using "roll the dice" in both a figurative/idiomatic sense (as in taking a risk), and in a somewhat more literal sense (painting the image of the person actually following the dice that have been rolled to Las Vegas). That being said, my confusion here is if I can get away with using "follow it" or if I need to say "follow them" .... As I've read online "dice" traditionally refers to more than one die (i.e., the plural of die), but in the modern usage, "dice" can also be used to refer to the singular (i.e., just one die). So, it seems like if I was referring to the image of just one die, then the way I phrased it could be correct. However, the image I'm trying to paint is the one usually associated with the phrase "roll the dice" (i.e., rolling two dice)... So could "follow it" still be considered acceptable in this sense... or would I need to use "follow them"?... And if not referring to the dice themselves, could using, could the "it" be taken to refer to the act of rolling the dice, or would that not work either? Thanks so much in advance!! | eng_Latn | 17,172 |
When describing an action by two persons is it ever correct to name oneself first? When describing an action by two persons and that action has a negative outcome or nature, is it correct to name oneself first? As in I and he played poorly. | "I", "me" and "myself" Possible Duplicate: What is correct? We are a family of four: my father, my mother, my brother and me. or We are a family of four: my father, my mother, my brother and I. or We are a family of four: my father, my mother, my brother and myself. | Formal writing: "…for my colleagues and {I/me/myself}."? I'm currently using Cambridge English Advanced 1. It's a book that contains past examination papers, and includes numerous samples of authentic writing. This material helps, candidates and teachers, understand what the examiners are ‘testing’ and how these papers are marked. The assessment covers four categories: content, communicative achievement, organisation and language. Each category is awarded a mark between 1 and 5, so the maximum score is 20, and each mark has a brief note attached by the examiner. Any errors of punctuation, orthography, grammar, appropriacy, and vocabulary are left intact. In fact, there are no corrections because the ‘examiner’ does not specify where the errors lie. This can be frustrating, even though spelling mistakes are rare at the advanced level, and errors in style, collocation or register are still relatively easy to identify, sometimes I'll read a phrase that forces me to ponder. Dear Director, [ TEXT ] To conclude, this letter is a polite request to cover the costs of a 2 month language course for my colleagues and me. We would be very pleased if the company would do us this favour. Yours sincerely John Smith The following marks were awarded Content 5 blah, blah, … Communicative Achievement 2 blah, blah, … Organisation 3 blah, blah, … Language 3 blah, blah, … I am able to pick out six minor errors in that brief extract, maybe some users will identify more, maybe some will identify fewer, and maybe some will say that the language used is perfectly acceptable. But if I can help a candidate attain that elusive B, I would be delighted. I am interested in (what could be) the 7th error, emphasised in bold. Because the letter of proposal is formal, I feel the phrase, for my colleagues and me, is jarring. I want to change it to for my colleagues and I, but the antecedent requires an object. You would not say: “This is a request to cover the cost […] for I”. So, why use the subject pronoun I in the expression “my colleagues and…”? Could I use instead, myself? Which of the following is preferable in a formal written proposal? …for my colleagues and me …for my colleagues and I …for my colleagues and myself EDITED: I found a of the writing sample (11/11) if anyone is interested. I've looked at the following question, Some answers appear to be contradictory, the accepted answer says using I and me are both grammatical, which in my example is not true. Moreover, there's no mention of myself, as a possible solution, in the question. | eng_Latn | 17,173 |
Who is [company name] or Who are [company name] I work at a company and we are redesigning our website. One of the titles of a page is about the company and who we are. There is a huge debate going on regarding how the initial question should be phrased... Who is [Company name] Who are [Company name] I should also mention that our company name is in a plural form. Whether this makes a difference or not is also up for debate. Looking forward to hearing peoples suggestions. | Are collective nouns always plural, or are certain ones singular? I'd say Microsoft have a way of bending the rules and I know that McLaren have won the championship. While this sounds strange, I believe it is correct English (sorry, I'm not native). But when it's a small company, would you still use it this way? Is a company always plural, or are small companies singular? I.e., would you say Bakery Johnson makes fine bread or Bakery Johnson make fine bread? Is it My book seller, Woody's, have moved or is it has moved? | "A few" takes a singular or plural verb in present simple tense? Does "a few" take a singular or plural verb in present simple tense? A few men lifts the table. A few men lift the table. A few frogs jumps out of the lake. A few frogs jump out of the lake. I have searched the same question in google, but I see both answers. Which one is correct? How come "a few" is plural? Even though it refers to many, "a" makes "few" a singular, so it should take a singular verb, right? Should I always put "a" in front of "few"? For example, are the following correct? Few men lift the table. Few frogs jump out of the lake. | eng_Latn | 17,174 |
Why is the noun 'salary' singular in this sentence? I've found this sentence in a dictionary (LDOCE5), so I assume it is correct. But I can't understand why the noun salary is singular although it has a plural form. Could you explain it to me? The sentence: Research indicates that over 81% of teachers are dissatisfied with their salary. EDIT: As you pointed out there are several similar questions in this topic ( , ). I found answer the most fitting that claims that teachers should have salaries in my sentence. But answer implies that Robusto's answer is just a rule of thumb. So I can't find the explicit answer in the referred questions, I can only guess. Is there a general rule that clarifies my sentence and the quoted answers? | "On their back" or "on their backs"? After the therapy, eight children (43%) became able to crawl/move on their back. Or should I use "on their backs"? Singular because each child only has one back, or plural because we're dealing with eight backs? | Formal writing: "…for my colleagues and {I/me/myself}."? I'm currently using Cambridge English Advanced 1. It's a book that contains past examination papers, and includes numerous samples of authentic writing. This material helps, candidates and teachers, understand what the examiners are ‘testing’ and how these papers are marked. The assessment covers four categories: content, communicative achievement, organisation and language. Each category is awarded a mark between 1 and 5, so the maximum score is 20, and each mark has a brief note attached by the examiner. Any errors of punctuation, orthography, grammar, appropriacy, and vocabulary are left intact. In fact, there are no corrections because the ‘examiner’ does not specify where the errors lie. This can be frustrating, even though spelling mistakes are rare at the advanced level, and errors in style, collocation or register are still relatively easy to identify, sometimes I'll read a phrase that forces me to ponder. Dear Director, [ TEXT ] To conclude, this letter is a polite request to cover the costs of a 2 month language course for my colleagues and me. We would be very pleased if the company would do us this favour. Yours sincerely John Smith The following marks were awarded Content 5 blah, blah, … Communicative Achievement 2 blah, blah, … Organisation 3 blah, blah, … Language 3 blah, blah, … I am able to pick out six minor errors in that brief extract, maybe some users will identify more, maybe some will identify fewer, and maybe some will say that the language used is perfectly acceptable. But if I can help a candidate attain that elusive B, I would be delighted. I am interested in (what could be) the 7th error, emphasised in bold. Because the letter of proposal is formal, I feel the phrase, for my colleagues and me, is jarring. I want to change it to for my colleagues and I, but the antecedent requires an object. You would not say: “This is a request to cover the cost […] for I”. So, why use the subject pronoun I in the expression “my colleagues and…”? Could I use instead, myself? Which of the following is preferable in a formal written proposal? …for my colleagues and me …for my colleagues and I …for my colleagues and myself EDITED: I found a of the writing sample (11/11) if anyone is interested. I've looked at the following question, Some answers appear to be contradictory, the accepted answer says using I and me are both grammatical, which in my example is not true. Moreover, there's no mention of myself, as a possible solution, in the question. | eng_Latn | 17,175 |
Gerund usage: when can verbs be used as -ing nouns? I have a question regarding the correct usage of verbs as nouns ending in -ing (I understand that these are referred to as gerunds). Under what circumstance may a gerund be used in place of the verb it is derived from? In particular, is it acceptable for a gerund to be the subject of a sentence? Consider these examples: 1) Analyzing data is difficult. 2) The analysis of data is difficult. Which of the above examples are correct? If both are correct, is one example preferred over the other? | When is a gerund supposed to be preceded by a possessive adjective/determiner? I assume that the following sentences are grammatically correct: He resents your being more popular than he is. Most of the members paid their dues without my asking them. They objected to the youngest girl's being given the command position. What do you think about his buying such an expensive car? We were all sorry about Jane's losing her parents like that. I'm still getting used to this possessive gerund structure. It sounded so weird to me at first. Is the structure used in both formal and informal contexts? Are there any alternative structures that result in the same meaning and are more frequently used? (Examples taken from ) | Can cited works hold grammatical positions in sentences? Though I read this style quite often, I was recently told unambiguously by a reviewer that I was NOT supposed to use citations "as if they are objects in a sentence." The following sentence is an example of what the reviewer considered unacceptable: We analyzed the data using the Wilmerding method, guided by [12]. The references section might include the following: [12] Smith, D., Marshawn, J., & Devenshaw, A. 2011. Techniques and Procedures for Applying the Wilmerding Method. Prince Publications, Inc, New York, NY. The Wilmerding method1 is not a step-by-step algorithm that can be precisely followed as if by a machine, and thus [12] does not provide a step-by-step algorithmic description but rather guidance for using the method. [12] is a relatively slim but authoritative textbook about how to use the Wilmerding method. Within this question, for the purpose of discussion, I have intentionally put [12] in grammatical positions where it's an important element of the sentence and the sentence would make less sense without the reference. Sometimes that seems to be the most efficient way to communicate the intended message. Is using a reference as a grammatical sentence element like this OK? Why might this not be considered acceptable? Should I be rewording those sentences? Is it enough of a violation to be worth passing the note on to authors of papers I review? I considered posting this on but it seems more specific to academia than general English usage, and the comment came from a content reviewer rather than a copy editor. is related but it seems to be more about when to put authors names' in vs. outside of the parentheses in an APA-like style. The numbered citation style (as opposed to following APA, for example) is required by the venue. 1: Fictionalized for the purpose of this discussion | eng_Latn | 17,176 |
He is one of the boys who "play" or "plays" football? Which one is correct? He is one of the boys who play football. He is one of the boys who plays football. Please state the reason as well. | "One of the children who was" vs. "one of the children who were" In the construction "one of the [plural noun] who ...", should the verb agree with "one" or "[plural noun]"? For example, which of the two following sentences is grammatically correct? Or are both acceptable? She was one of the several children who was sold at the auction She was one of the several children who were sold at the auction. | Is this a grammatically correct line in a poem: “Will he roll the dice, and follow it to Vegas?”? I want to use the following line in a poem: "Will he roll the dice, and follow it to Vegas?" A couple of things to note; firstly, obviously I'm using "roll the dice" in both a figurative/idiomatic sense (as in taking a risk), and in a somewhat more literal sense (painting the image of the person actually following the dice that have been rolled to Las Vegas). That being said, my confusion here is if I can get away with using "follow it" or if I need to say "follow them" .... As I've read online "dice" traditionally refers to more than one die (i.e., the plural of die), but in the modern usage, "dice" can also be used to refer to the singular (i.e., just one die). So, it seems like if I was referring to the image of just one die, then the way I phrased it could be correct. However, the image I'm trying to paint is the one usually associated with the phrase "roll the dice" (i.e., rolling two dice)... So could "follow it" still be considered acceptable in this sense... or would I need to use "follow them"?... And if not referring to the dice themselves, could using, could the "it" be taken to refer to the act of rolling the dice, or would that not work either? Thanks so much in advance!! | eng_Latn | 17,177 |
Using "it's" instead of "it is" I like the way contractions operate and I know the difference between "it's" and "its" based on contraction and possession. That is, "it's = it is" and "its" is possessive. However, there are some sentences when I feel justified in replacing "it is" with its contraction, but for some reason it doesn't sound right nor does it read correctly to me: The method won't be approved because of how difficult it is to implement. compared to The method won't be approved because of how difficult it's to implement. Is this a correct (or uncommon) usage of the contraction "it's"? Why does it sound awkward when spoken? | Is there some rule against ending a sentence with the contraction "it's"? I heard this lyric in a song the other day and it just sounded so wrong that I assumed it must be incorrect grammar, but I can't find any specific prohibition that applies. That's what it's. That rolls off your tongue with the grace of a moose in a tutu, but I can't figure out why. There is clearly no problem with ending other sentences with a contraction. These sound fine. I thought I could, but I can't. Stop touching that, it will fall off if you don't. You say that the sky is green, but it isn't. Also, it sounds just fine if you remove the contraction: That's what it is. So what's up with this construction? Should it be avoided? | "If" and "Whether" - Is interrogative IF always replacable by WHETHER? I am asking here specifically about if and whether when they introduce embedded questions (or to be more technically accurate, subordinate interrogative clauses): I don't know if Bob's here. I don't know whether Bob's here. In the sentence above we can freely replace if with whether. There are some situations in which the reverse does not apply. We cannot always replace whether with if. For example in standard English, we cannot normally use if after a preposition: The question of whether he is actually eligible didn't arise. *The question of if he is actually eligible didn't arise. We cannot usually use interrogative-if directly followed by or not: It's unclear whether or not he's a real elephant. *It's unclear if or not he's a real elephant. There are several more examples. However, what I want to know is: Are there any examples where we can use interrogative-if but we can't use whether? Edit note: There is an if that we find in conditionals that can't be replaced by whether. However, this is conditional, not interrogative, if. | eng_Latn | 17,178 |
An alternative single word for "He/She" and "his/her"? In the following sentence ( taking it as an example ) Everyone applying for scholarship has to fill the form. He/She must also provide his/her result card with his/her form. I am wondering, can I possibly use some word instead of "He/She" and "his/her" which will provide the same meaning? ( I need a word if possible. I know that changing the structure of sentence can be done to avoid using he/she and his/her ) | Usage of "they" / "them" / "their" when the person's gender is not known I know that one can use "they" / "them" / "their" in place of "he" / "him" / "his" or "she" / "her" / "hers" when the subject's / direct object's gender is not known; for instance, just looking at the default user's about me section on Stack Exchange sites: Apparently, this user prefers to keep an air of mystery about them My question is what happens when someone wants to reference the subject using a pronoun instead. Should the verb be conjugated accordingly to the pronoun? E.g.: Apparently, they prefer to keep an air of mystery about them Or should the conjugation be retained? E.g.: Apparently, they prefers to keep an air of mystery about them The former looks unclear because it wouldn't allow the reader / listener to understand if the writer / speaker is talking about a single person or about a group of people, however the latter sounds very weird, at least just to the non-native speaker which I am. | Using first person or third person in papers? Are there written or unwritten rules for avoiding the use of first-person while writing research papers? I was advised at the beginning of my grad school to avoid use of first person - but I still don't know why I should do this. I have seen that, at many places, authors refer to themselves are "the authors" and not "we". At the same time, I have also seen use of first-person to a good extent. Do these things differ in different Journals and Conferences (and in different disciplines as well - mine happens to be CS)? | eng_Latn | 17,179 |
Is “a choice between one of two options” grammatically correct? In: a choice between one of two options I would like to know if this is correct grammatically. I came across it in a scientific paper. I think the “one of ” part should be removed. Am I correct? | Is "choose from one of four options" wrong? I need backup in pressing my case that the phrase “choose from one of four options” is grammatically incorrect. Is there some resource that can prove my case, that the incorrect phrase should be replaced with one of the two following ones? Choose one of four options Choose from four options | Could "them" mean "those"? Background Nowadays, I see "them" used to mean "those" a lot. I don't know if it was as common in the past. For example, take "one of ". On researching about it, I found some people say it comes from a dialect of British English. Some others say it is a "non-standard" usage. I see this usage in Canadian English also, and it seems some people use it in a sarcastic way. Moreover, I have seen a song titled "one of them days". I also read, in the book called "A Broken Promise", "" Finally, Wikipedia says that it is a usage in (a common name for the Southern Midland dialect of American English): Pronouns and demonstratives "Them" is sometimes used in place of "those" as a demonstrative in both nominative and oblique constructions. Examples are "Them are the pants I want" and "Give me some of them crackers." Question(s): What would you say about the usage of this word? Is it correct? Could we use it in daily speech? Could this usage go beyond a specific dialect and be used in other dialects, regions, etc.? Does it really originate from Appalachian English? Why did this usage become popular among other English speakers? Note: I have already seen a similar question: However, it only says, "ungrammatical," there. This question is specific to this situation only, and there is more to it. | eng_Latn | 17,180 |
Plural and singular items in the same list Which is correct? The list contains a plural item, but it also contains singular items. So would I use "are" in this sentence? "An applicant with an undergraduate degree in business is supposed to qualify for the one-year program if their grades, resume, and GMAT score are good enough." "An applicant with an undergraduate degree in business is supposed to qualify for the one-year program if their grades, resume, and GMAT score is good enough." | Is it: My apples and orange are/is wrong? Simple question: My apples and orange are wrong or My apples and orange is wrong I am not a native English speaker, and I am having some trouble choosing between plural are or singular is for that kind of example. | "They interviewed several candidates who/whom he thought had the experience he required." They interviewed several candidates who he thought had the experience and qualifications he required. My test prep book says this should be "who" because of the subordinate clause's predicate: They interviewed several candidates who he thought had the experience and qualifications he required. I feel like it should be "whom" as it's the object of the main clause. The interviewed several candidates whom he thought had the experience and qualifications he required. Who's right? | eng_Latn | 17,181 |
Is it typo or correct? I was reading some parts of Ant-Man and the Wasp movie transcript from I saw this sentence in it: but what's this have to do with where Scott Lang is? Can we abbreviate does to s like when we do the same to is? | What does "apostrophe s" stand for in "What's it all mean"? I heard someone on a TV show say: What's it all mean? As far as I know, 's could be the short form of has and is. But in this case, it seems more like to be the short form of does. Am I correct? | Does $a\mid bc$ imply $a\mid b$ or $a\mid c$? I am not sure I understand this I just to an explanation to this question: If $a, b, c \in \Bbb{Z}^+$ and $a\mid bc$, does it follow that $a\mid b$ or $a\mid c$? | eng_Latn | 17,182 |
Should I use "know" or "knows" in "How many of you {know/knows} English?" How many of you {know/knows} English? Without knowing the outcome of the above question are we supposed to use a singular verb or a plural verb? This question is different from the one already asked as this question is used with a main verb 'know' where as the previous one with 'be' verbs. | Could it be a structure of "How many -singular noun- is there?" We had an argument in our collage if it's possible to have such structure: "How many -singular noun- is there?" For example: How many chair is there? The claim of the supporters: This structure should be used in case that t is not known whether there is one one or more chairs there. While just in case that it is known certainty that there are more than one chair, it should be "how many chairs are there". The claim of the opponents: This structure cannot be since using the phrase "how many" always should be with a plural noun. Both sides are not native English speakers, then I would like to know what is the truth. | Conjugation: Do we cite authors or papers? When referencing to another work in a scientific paper, do we cite the paper or its author(s)? This question is intended to clarify the conjugation of the verb that follows the reference -- especially in these cases: One author, two papers: Jane Doe (2015a, 2015b) list-s the very specific conditions under which... -> lists (singular: referencing to Jane Doe) or list (plural: referencing to both papers) Several authors, one paper: John Doe, et al. (2015) claim-s this and that. -> claim (plural: referencing to the multiple authors of the paper) or claims (singular: referencing to the single paper). | eng_Latn | 17,183 |
Is it common to use the plural when the subject is an organization? I have seen several occurrences of the plural for the name of an organization of company, but also occurrences of the singular. For example, "Mango Ltd. have just put their new 'mPhone 8' on the market, go buy it now!" (imagine "Mango Ltd." is a famous company that manufactures mobiles phones). Mango Ltd. have just put their new 'mPhone 8' on the market Is this sentence correct? or should it be Mango Ltd. has just put their new 'mPhone 8' on the market or maybe both are correct? | Are collective nouns always plural, or are certain ones singular? I'd say Microsoft have a way of bending the rules and I know that McLaren have won the championship. While this sounds strange, I believe it is correct English (sorry, I'm not native). But when it's a small company, would you still use it this way? Is a company always plural, or are small companies singular? I.e., would you say Bakery Johnson makes fine bread or Bakery Johnson make fine bread? Is it My book seller, Woody's, have moved or is it has moved? | "1 in 10 are" or "1 in 10 is"? Take the examples: "One in ten children are dyslexic." "One in ten children is dyslexic." "One in ten children has dyslexia." "One in ten children have dyslexia." The "one" is singular so 2 and 3 should be correct. But the "one in ten" is a fraction" so 1 and 4 should be correct. And yet I think I usually say 1 and 3. Which is/are correct?! | eng_Latn | 17,184 |
Is this correct? "One of the things that makes him great is..." One of the things that makes him great is he brings it every night. I'm pretty sure it should be that make him in the plural, because one of the things is referring to a lot of things and a lot of things should take a plural verb. But I always hear native speakers in America say it in the singular, so with an s. Another example: This is one of the responsibilities that comes with greatness and he understands that. Native speakers always use the verb in the singular (here, comes) even though [I believe] it is grammatically incorrect to use the singular form of the verb there. | "One of them was/were you" If I am talking to somebody about a certain group of people in the third person, and then want to refer to the person I am talking with as one of those people, which do I say? One of them were you One of them was you. | "They're using a cell phone" vs. "They're using cell phones" The usage of singular and plural has always been confusing for me. I often see sentences like these People are using cell phones. People are using a cell phone. Does the first sentence mean everyone has a phone and they are all using their own? Does the second sentence mean they are sharing one cell phone? If I see a group of people holding a cell phone in their hand(s), <- even this is confusing for me, should I use the first sentence then? Another example: you see two men, and both of them are carrying a bag. Which sentence should I say/use? They are carrying backpacks They are carrying a backpack Could you please make it clear for me? | eng_Latn | 17,185 |
“An hilarious” vs. “a hilarious” Which of these is correct? This is in the context of buying a surprise gift for someone and you think your gift is hilarious. I bought myself a hilarious one! or I bought myself an hilarious one! I’ve been saying both so many times that neither makes sense to me anymore. | When should I use "a" versus "an" in front of a word beginning with the letter h? A basic grammar rule is to use an instead of a before a vowel sound. Given that historic is not pronounced with a silent h, I use “a historic”. Is this correct? What about heroic? Should be “It was a heroic act” or “It was an heroic act”? I remember reading somewhere that the h is sometimes silent, in which case it’s an, and when the h is pronounced, it’s a. But then I also remember reading that it depends on which syllable is stressed. And I also think I read somewhere that it might differ between British and American English. Personally, I pronounce the h, and believe that a is correct. I find that it sounds incorrect to use an and pronounce heroic without the h. So how do I know when to use a and when to use an with a word beginning with the letter h? Are both acceptable or is there one that is correct? | Formal writing: "…for my colleagues and {I/me/myself}."? I'm currently using Cambridge English Advanced 1. It's a book that contains past examination papers, and includes numerous samples of authentic writing. This material helps, candidates and teachers, understand what the examiners are ‘testing’ and how these papers are marked. The assessment covers four categories: content, communicative achievement, organisation and language. Each category is awarded a mark between 1 and 5, so the maximum score is 20, and each mark has a brief note attached by the examiner. Any errors of punctuation, orthography, grammar, appropriacy, and vocabulary are left intact. In fact, there are no corrections because the ‘examiner’ does not specify where the errors lie. This can be frustrating, even though spelling mistakes are rare at the advanced level, and errors in style, collocation or register are still relatively easy to identify, sometimes I'll read a phrase that forces me to ponder. Dear Director, [ TEXT ] To conclude, this letter is a polite request to cover the costs of a 2 month language course for my colleagues and me. We would be very pleased if the company would do us this favour. Yours sincerely John Smith The following marks were awarded Content 5 blah, blah, … Communicative Achievement 2 blah, blah, … Organisation 3 blah, blah, … Language 3 blah, blah, … I am able to pick out six minor errors in that brief extract, maybe some users will identify more, maybe some will identify fewer, and maybe some will say that the language used is perfectly acceptable. But if I can help a candidate attain that elusive B, I would be delighted. I am interested in (what could be) the 7th error, emphasised in bold. Because the letter of proposal is formal, I feel the phrase, for my colleagues and me, is jarring. I want to change it to for my colleagues and I, but the antecedent requires an object. You would not say: “This is a request to cover the cost […] for I”. So, why use the subject pronoun I in the expression “my colleagues and…”? Could I use instead, myself? Which of the following is preferable in a formal written proposal? …for my colleagues and me …for my colleagues and I …for my colleagues and myself EDITED: I found a of the writing sample (11/11) if anyone is interested. I've looked at the following question, Some answers appear to be contradictory, the accepted answer says using I and me are both grammatical, which in my example is not true. Moreover, there's no mention of myself, as a possible solution, in the question. | eng_Latn | 17,186 |
Is it "get" or "gets" in "Nobody move and nobody get(s) hurt"? Which of these is correct? 1.) "Nobody move and nobody gets hurt." or should it be, 2.) "Nobody move and nobody get hurt." Here's some related info in . | "Nobody want to go there," or "nobody wants to go there"? In English, the number 0 is treated as plural. It is then: 0 seconds 1 second 1.2 seconds 2 seconds Shouldn't it be "nobody want to go there," instead of "nobody wants to go there"? I also saw in TOEFL that "any __" should be used with a singular. But I see it very common that it is a plural also. Why is that? (updated: example, "we don't have any apples any more" vs "If you get any apple, please let me know.") | Correct use of will & would? What would be the correct use of will & would in these sentences? 1) What will happen if I say to my boss that I will not come tomorrow? 2) What will happen if I would say to my boss that I will not come tomorrow? 3) What will happen if I will say to my boss that I will not come tomorrow? 4) What would happen if I would say to my boss that I will not come tomorrow? There are four sentences which one should I use and in which situation? | eng_Latn | 17,187 |
Possessive pronoun/object pronoun + Gerund I have been thinking about this for quite a while and have done some research on it. What I have learned is that possessive pronoun+gerund is a structure that's more "formal", while object pronoun + gerund is less formal. Also, some people suggest that using the structure of possessive noun+noun might be more idiomatic and make the sentence easier to understand. What I want to know is whether in the formal writing style the structure of "object+gerund" should never be used. It just sounds quite clumsy when the "formal style" is used. For example: Soldiers walking slowly in two lines toward the enemies might look crazy to people nowadays. Soldiers' walking slowly in two lines toward the enemies might look crazy to people nowadays. Note that in the first example I am not talking about "soldiers who walked slowly in two lines toward the enemies" but "the fact that soldiers walked slowly in two lines toward the enemies" And also, Do you mind me telling you the truth? Do you mind my telling you the truth? Do the sentences that contain the structure of "object pronoun+gerund" confuse you or make you think it's so informal that it should not be seen in newspapers or prestigious magazines such as the Times or the Economist? Thanks in advance! Any opinions are welcome! | When is a gerund supposed to be preceded by a possessive adjective/determiner? I assume that the following sentences are grammatically correct: He resents your being more popular than he is. Most of the members paid their dues without my asking them. They objected to the youngest girl's being given the command position. What do you think about his buying such an expensive car? We were all sorry about Jane's losing her parents like that. I'm still getting used to this possessive gerund structure. It sounded so weird to me at first. Is the structure used in both formal and informal contexts? Are there any alternative structures that result in the same meaning and are more frequently used? (Examples taken from ) | Usage of singular or plural SI base units when written in both symbol as well as name I have multiple doubts related to the usage of singular or plural SI base units when written in both symbol as well as name. I have framed this question under two parts, namely, Part (a) and Part (b). Each part has three sentences which I have written on the basis of my understanding. Please answer these 6 sentences/questions. Part (a): says that while using prefix for e.g., centi as in centimeter, it is l = 75 cm long.(correct) l = 75 cms long. (wrong) Does this rule is used for all SI prefixes (having powers of 10)? In this regard, we should be saying, or writing that, "how many cm are there in one metre?" (while saying we should say centimter or centimetres?) Please strike-through the wrong SI unit in the following sentences. My weight is 70 kg / kgs, or My weight is 70 kilogram / kilograms. Part (b): and the page next to above web link says, we should write: 2.6 m/s, or 2.6 metres per second. In this regard, we should say, or write: Its speed is 0.26 metres per second. This pipe is 0.75 metres long. How many cm are there in 2 metres? | eng_Latn | 17,188 |
Guidelines for adding 's after name of company ending in s How about adding 's to the name of a company that ends in s for a possessive? Is it the same guideline (go by how it would be pronounced)? Thanks. | What is the correct possessive for nouns ending in "‑s"? What is the possessive of a noun ending in ‑s? Are these both right, or is the second one wrong? the boys' books the boss' car | Is there a standard pronunciation for gender-neutral -@ or -x More and more I see, especially in activist communities, Spanish-derived words ending in x or @ in order to neuter the gendering inherent in the original language. For example: latinx (or latin@) as opposed to latina and latino. How, though, are these endings pronounced? Please provide evidence of how this orthography is most commonly pronounced. Note 1: I recognize this is in an English Language site, rather than a Spanish language site, but this phenomenon is very much happening in English, albeit with Spanish loan words. Therefore the question is relevant to non-Spanish-speaking English speakers. Note 2: A question like this can lead to politically charged or, at least, sarcastic comments. Please refrain from bringing in your biases for or against. Note 3: This question is not seeking opinions as to how some people pronounce the suffixes. Answers should address evidence of a developing orthodoxy in pronunciation. | eng_Latn | 17,189 |
Should I use Singular or Plural for "Donor(s) List"? To be recognized in the Saddle River Donors List and help the Saddle River community, please include your tax free donation: Should it be Donors or Donor? | Which form should be used for attributive nouns like “student union”: singular or plural, or possessive singular or possessive plural? When should a noun that’s used attributively to describe another noun be plural, and when should it be singular? And when should it be possessive, like baker’s dozen and when should it be plural possessive, like farmers’ market? In other words, why do we say teachers union rather than teacher union? And why do we say wedding planner rather than weddings planner? Which of these variants is or are correct? student union students union student’s union students’ union What about community values versus community’s values? Please note I am looking for a general rule or at least some tips. These are only examples. Update: It seems even native speakers follow their personal style to write such compound words. I wonder why in the IELTS listening section, the language learner has to write a specific form and there is no rule for this. | "To be subject to" vs. "to be subjected to" I read an article from today which stated: TTC workers are subject to alcohol and drug testing. A later paragraph of the same article repeated it, except it used subjected to instead of subject to. I have rarely seen the use of subjected to before. Is it legitimate in English as well? Why didn’t the author just keep it consistent by using subject to throughout the article? Does using varieties of forms enrich the expressions within an article? | eng_Latn | 17,190 |
"Let's see them aliens" grammar I know this was a joke on Facebook, the thing about storming Area 51. But, what catched my eyes is the "them". Is this playing on word? Or, is this grammaticality sound? Or is this a joke because I, as non native speaker, don't get it. Isn't it supposed to be: Let's see them, the aliens OR Let's see the aliens I hope this question isn't off-topic but I really want to know. | What's the meaning "them" here? I've confused about the word "them" in the middle of the sentence: They know all about them Westovers in Idaho. Could you please tell me what the meaning of "them" here is? Does it mean "they know about the oils which are made by Westovers in Idaho"? The full text is here: Dad had always said he wanted to build a room the size of a cruise ship but I’d never thought he’d have the money. I looked to Mother for an explanation but it was Dad who answered. The business was a roaring success, he explained. Essential oils were popular, and Mother had the best on the market. “Our oils are so good,” he said, “we’ve started eating into the profits of the large corporate producers. They know all about them Westovers in Idaho.” Educated by Tara Westover | How can I explain to a non-native why the plural of a noun isn't used adjectivally? How can I explain to a non-native speaker that while this is correct: The felling of trees. And this is also correct: tree felling This is not: *trees felling To a non-native it seems very reasonable that since many trees are being felled and given that the felling of trees uses the plural, the inverse form would also use the plural and become trees felling. To a native speaker such as myself, the latter is very obviously wrong, but I couldn't figure out how to formalize this into a rule that a non-native can understand. | eng_Latn | 17,191 |
Is using They,Their and Them acceptable in research paper or thesis? I argued with my I.T. teacher who is also our research adviser because as far as my knowledge is concerned I insisted that using they, them and their is acceptable based on APA style. She prohibited us from using she and he, which is understandable, but they, their and them? I don't understand that. So the words left for us to use is us and students who are the subject of the research and these words eventually become so redundant in our research paper. I think this is very stupid. Is she correct? | Is there a correct gender-neutral singular pronoun ("his" vs. "her" vs. "their")? Is there a pronoun I can use as a gender-neutral pronoun when referring back to a singular noun phrase? Each student should save his questions until the end. Each student should save her questions until the end. | Can cited works hold grammatical positions in sentences? Though I read this style quite often, I was recently told unambiguously by a reviewer that I was NOT supposed to use citations "as if they are objects in a sentence." The following sentence is an example of what the reviewer considered unacceptable: We analyzed the data using the Wilmerding method, guided by [12]. The references section might include the following: [12] Smith, D., Marshawn, J., & Devenshaw, A. 2011. Techniques and Procedures for Applying the Wilmerding Method. Prince Publications, Inc, New York, NY. The Wilmerding method1 is not a step-by-step algorithm that can be precisely followed as if by a machine, and thus [12] does not provide a step-by-step algorithmic description but rather guidance for using the method. [12] is a relatively slim but authoritative textbook about how to use the Wilmerding method. Within this question, for the purpose of discussion, I have intentionally put [12] in grammatical positions where it's an important element of the sentence and the sentence would make less sense without the reference. Sometimes that seems to be the most efficient way to communicate the intended message. Is using a reference as a grammatical sentence element like this OK? Why might this not be considered acceptable? Should I be rewording those sentences? Is it enough of a violation to be worth passing the note on to authors of papers I review? I considered posting this on but it seems more specific to academia than general English usage, and the comment came from a content reviewer rather than a copy editor. is related but it seems to be more about when to put authors names' in vs. outside of the parentheses in an APA-like style. The numbered citation style (as opposed to following APA, for example) is required by the venue. 1: Fictionalized for the purpose of this discussion | eng_Latn | 17,192 |
“Ten bucks says…" or "Ten bucks say…"? Which is correct? In the movie Avengers I, when the Cap said,“At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me.” Then the director Fury answered,“Ten bucks says you’re wrong." I understand that Fury was betting ten bucks that the cap was wrong. My questions are: 1) 'Ten bucks' is a plural, why use 'says' instead of 'say'? 2) It's not the first time I heard this expression and it seems most time people use 'says'; so is it a fixed phrase ? Or some kind of abbreviation for some sentence? If so, could anyone help to show me the complete version? Thanks a lot. | Are amounts of money singular or plural? Are the two sentences correct or is one of them incorrect? 1) Five billion dollars is earmarked for the project. 2) Five billion dollars has been earmarked for the project. I know dollars are countable. So I think both 'is' and 'has been' are correct here. Also, do they differ in meaning? | Dollar Sign corrupts question In my question () contains a "$" in a quoted section of the question. Originally I had a second "$" in a second quoted section of the same question. However when I did this the second $ seemed to trigger a style that made the text italic and lost spacing between words. I took out the second "$" and instead emphasized it with the word "dollars" which solved the immediate problem. However, in the listing of the question, (not the question itself) the same thing happens after the first "$". The summary shows the text without spaces between words and in italic. Seems like a bug. Below is a verbatim copy/paste of the original issue (two dollar signs): I was able to find a small ESC for about $12 off of ebay. If you were designing a robot, would you see that and think? $12 bucks for an ESC that connects to simple pulse-wave interface - sign me up! Or would you think: $12 just to control a motor? I could throw together an H-bridge for $0.50 and be done with it. My robot in particular actually has two motors and therefor $24 to control the two of them. But the interface is really easy (plus has the added advantage of being R/C vs computer controlled with a simple change of connectors. Which way would you go? | eng_Latn | 17,193 |
Subject-Verb Agreement: The horse and carriage is ready A rule in my text book says If the 2 subjects separated by 'and' refer to the same thing/person/suggest the same idea, they take a singular verb. E.g. The Horse and Carriage is ready I feel that the sentence should be - The Horse and Carriage are ready And Grammarly agrees with me - So what does the subject agree with? 'Is' or 'are'? | In the sentence: "Drinking and driving IS dangerous", why does the verb "to be" need to be singular? In the sentence: "Drinking and driving is dangerous". Drinking and driving are both subjects and the word dangerous is the object (I think) but why do I have to use the verb to be in singular? | Is this a grammatically correct line in a poem: “Will he roll the dice, and follow it to Vegas?”? I want to use the following line in a poem: "Will he roll the dice, and follow it to Vegas?" A couple of things to note; firstly, obviously I'm using "roll the dice" in both a figurative/idiomatic sense (as in taking a risk), and in a somewhat more literal sense (painting the image of the person actually following the dice that have been rolled to Las Vegas). That being said, my confusion here is if I can get away with using "follow it" or if I need to say "follow them" .... As I've read online "dice" traditionally refers to more than one die (i.e., the plural of die), but in the modern usage, "dice" can also be used to refer to the singular (i.e., just one die). So, it seems like if I was referring to the image of just one die, then the way I phrased it could be correct. However, the image I'm trying to paint is the one usually associated with the phrase "roll the dice" (i.e., rolling two dice)... So could "follow it" still be considered acceptable in this sense... or would I need to use "follow them"?... And if not referring to the dice themselves, could using, could the "it" be taken to refer to the act of rolling the dice, or would that not work either? Thanks so much in advance!! | eng_Latn | 17,194 |
Plural or singular verbs with singular they Q. How good is the teacher at that school? A. They're a good teacher. They just sometimes hit(s) their students if the students don't pay any attention to what he's saying, and then call(s) for parent-teacher conference. Are we to use plural verbs with the singular they? It seems to me that with the first one, it should be hit but with the second one it should calls. | Grammatical number agreement in a complex phrase using singular "they" another question, I used the following phrase: Your reader is [...], but they are a busy person. I have two difficulties here: In the first phrase, a reader, being singular noun, certainly implies is; In the second phrase, they, being a plural pronoun (regardless that it refers a single person), still requires are, but are implies the plural for busy persons which sounds awkward (a reader ⇆ persons); Obviously, if I used "...but he is a busy person", everything works fine, but I'm trying to use a gender-agnostic form. What is the proper number agreement here? | Is "has or will read" grammatical? I just wrote in an ELL chat room. But looking at it (or more accurately, listening to my "inner voice" trying to "read it aloud"), I find it bothers me a lot. A quick check on Google Books finds a claimed 432 written instances of , and 910 instances of , which suggests a significant minority of writers don't have a problem with the fact that the two different read's don't sound the same. When I check the same construction with other verbs that don't have the same written form for past participle and present tense, it seems people nearly always include both (e.g. :1230, :8; :357, :7). I'm not usually a big fan of "grammatical rules", but it seems to me there "ought" to be a rule that you shouldn't delete one instance of the verb unless it's "the same" as the one you're keeping. And it also seems to me that since language is primarily spoken, "the same" ought to mean "sounds the same when spoken", not "looks the same when written". Can anyone who knows more than me about formal rules of grammar settle this one? As an aside, offhand I can't think of any verb where the past participle and present tense sound the same but are written differently (maybe there aren't any), but would deletion be okay in that case? | eng_Latn | 17,195 |
the plural of a 'word-as-a-word' 1-the words tumbled out so fast that I could barely hear them’ 2-don't look so worried’ 3-I'm not so foolish as to say that How would you refer to the sub-modifiers/adverbs (so) in sentence 1,2,3. a) so in sentences 1,2 and 3 b) so's in sentences 1,2 and 3 c) the so's in sentence 1,2 and 3 d) the so in sentence 1,2 and 3 e)...... type your answer | "Hail Mary", "Glory Be" in the plural Possible Duplicate: In the rosary, a Catholic sacramental composed of prayer beads, there is a short prayer concluding each decade called "Glory Be" ("Glory be to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit..."). Would the plural be Glory Bes or Glory Be's? Likewise, do you say 10 Hail Marys? | Correct use of will & would? What would be the correct use of will & would in these sentences? 1) What will happen if I say to my boss that I will not come tomorrow? 2) What will happen if I would say to my boss that I will not come tomorrow? 3) What will happen if I will say to my boss that I will not come tomorrow? 4) What would happen if I would say to my boss that I will not come tomorrow? There are four sentences which one should I use and in which situation? | eng_Latn | 17,196 |
How would you write the possessive with yourself and another person? How would you write the possessive with yourself and another person? For example: Would you like to join Bob's and my group? | What possessive forms are used for mutual 1st person ownership? I want to talk to someone about the house that my wife and I own. Saying, for example, "My wife's and my house is awesome," sounds a bit funny to me. What's the best way to express this? Clarification I'm asking specifically about the grammar of multiple nouns in possessive form. I'm particularly curious if it's possible to do this with a first-person pronoun (me). I am capable of rephrasing this in other ways - my question is not how to express the idea, but about this particular grammatical construction, if it is even legal. | Using apostrophes correctly I've read a great article about the . But there are still some points that are unclear. Why do we say... school project but not school's project? car service but not car's service or even cars' service (plural form)? apostrophe usage but not apostrophe's usage or apostrophes' usage? | eng_Latn | 17,197 |
Verb plurality when citing paper with multiple authors I already wrote a paper draft using inline citations like the following: However, [12] argues that ... Here I use "argues" instead of "argue" because the citation "[12]" acts as a singular noun (i.e., the paper), regardless of how many authors that paper has. Now, I must change my citation style to the following format: However, Smith et al. [2018] argues that ... Must I change "argues" to "argue", since the subject is plural (i.e., multiple authors)? Or can the phrase "Smith et al. [2018]" still refer to a singular paper, meaning "argues" is still correct? Is it better to be consistent and always use a singular verb (I have many such constructions with single and multiple authors), or should the verb plurality depend on the number of authors? | Citation: refer to author or paper? What is the British English way of referring to a source in-text. Is it plural because there are two authors, like this: X and Y (2011) describe ... Or is it singular because you are referring to a singular source, like this: X and Y (2011) describes... So what I am asking is whether you refer to the source or to the authors? | Some kind of + (singular or plural)? I have a question about using the phrase "some kind of _". Is it incorrect to say "some kind of + plural noun"? For example, is it wrong to say "are these rock-like things some kind of chocolates?" I didn't use "kinds" and that kind of adds to my question. Is "kind" always plural, like "some kinds of chocolates"? Because although I'm using "some", it feels like "kind" shouldn't be a countable noun. Anyway, I don't think I've heard of "some kind of + plural", but I think it makes more sense then using singular, since I think chocolates are countable. Please help! | eng_Latn | 17,198 |
Team needs vs Team need I want to inform other that one of the team require additional time to close a task. which one is appropriate Team needs more time or Team need more time | Are collective nouns always plural, or are certain ones singular? I'd say Microsoft have a way of bending the rules and I know that McLaren have won the championship. While this sounds strange, I believe it is correct English (sorry, I'm not native). But when it's a small company, would you still use it this way? Is a company always plural, or are small companies singular? I.e., would you say Bakery Johnson makes fine bread or Bakery Johnson make fine bread? Is it My book seller, Woody's, have moved or is it has moved? | Oven temperature for multiple ducks? Do I need to adjust the oven temperature in a roast duck recipe if I want to put more than one duck in the oven at a time. I suspect I should keep the same temperature but keep them in longer. Should I cover each duck in foil individually or together? Does it matter if they are on the same pan? | eng_Latn | 17,199 |
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