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1500 questions
22
votes
3 answers
"He likes swimming" or "He likes to swim"?
One can say: He likes swimming or He likes to swim. What is the exact meaning of each of these? What is the difference?
Trident D'Gao
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22
votes
5 answers
She does homework every day vs She does her homework every day vs She does the homework every day
Can I use the first example?
She does homework every day
She does her homework every day
She does the homework every day
Or is the object her required?
masterkomp
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21
votes
5 answers
Do you say “2 Byte” or “2 Bytes”?
Do you say "2 Byte" or "2 Bytes"? Which one is correct? If both is possible, when to use what?
The same question would come to my mind for my own language: German. So, there has to be a technical answer.
Willi Mentzel
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21
votes
3 answers
Is the phrase "suit yourself" offensive?
I was using the phrase "suit yourself" quite often since the equivalent in my native language it is a legitimate way to express "do whatever you consider the best."
However, when I used this phrase in a dialogue with a person from UK, I was told…
MasterPJ
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21
votes
3 answers
Same word used multiple times in a sentence
Sentences like the following sound strange to me, and I somehow "feel" they are incorrect.
I will be in the room in 10 minutes.
I will go to New York to meet my friend.
Is it correct to use the same word multiple times in the same sentence? If…
user207
21
votes
4 answers
Large, huge or big communities?
When I talk about many people, like community, what should I use?
A large community
A huge community
A big community
In my native language (German), we use just one word for that: groß. What is the difference in English?
fuxia
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21
votes
4 answers
"you can just move on in" -- isn't the wording strange a little bit? Why not just say "you can just move in"?
Example:
It's a bit like a house that's built already and you can just move on in.
I asked a native speaker from North Carolina and he said that the sentence sounded absolutely fine to him. So, it seems like there is nothing wrong with this…
Michael Rybkin
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21
votes
3 answers
What is "the drop" in music?
This word appear in the comment of a video of Bach in YouTube:
A: Which minute is the drop?
B: When he and Mozart have the rap battle
Clearly this is a joke, but I don't understand the meaning of the drop. I have looked up in Oxford Dictionary,…
Ooker
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21
votes
4 answers
'I got a cold' versus 'I caught a cold'
The questions here are not about meaning.
They are about the usage of the verbs get and catch in the context of getting a cold.
My dictionary says that get can be used to mean 'to become infected with an illness; to suffer from a pain, etc.' and…
viery365
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21
votes
6 answers
Is "snows" ever used as noun?
In Italian, nevi (the plural of neve, "snow") is used in some expressions, such as l'uomo delle nevi (a.k.a. Yeti), and le nevi dei Pirenei. (The last expression is referring to the Pyrenees, but I could use it when referring to any mountain…
apaderno
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21
votes
3 answers
Just because people don't talk doesn't mean they don't think
Just because people don't talk doesn't mean they don't think.
Some people(non-native speakers) say this is grammatically incorrect.
It is acceptable in casual conversation, but it should not be used in business or formal speech. They say,…
Deep
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21
votes
1 answer
What does "I have straight A's." mean?
In this video of Hillary Clinton, at 15s, the child said "I have straight A's.".
What does "straight A's" mean?
Leon
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21
votes
8 answers
"Its" and "it's" - how to remember?
What is a good mnemonic rule that an English learner can use to remember the difference between its (possessive adjective: a team has started its lunch) and it's (verb: it's raining)?
Marco Leogrande
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21
votes
2 answers
Should you use a plural verb if you refer to a fraction?
Should you use a plural verb if you refer to a fraction?
Nine tenths of the pillar have rotted away.
I think has should be used here, but I'm not sure.
Sudhir
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21
votes
4 answers
Plural form of "brother-in-law" when a possessive case is involved
My brother's friend's opinions
My brothers' friend's opinions
Now, let us suppose that the brother in "1" is a brother-in-law and that all the brothers in "2" are brothers-in-law.
How do we rewrite sentences 1 and 2 in a possessive case?
I…
user114