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1500 questions
21
votes
7 answers
Responding to "It was nice to talk to you"
How can I reply to "It was nice to talk to you" properly both formally and casually?
Actually, I want to make this question a bit general, but since I heard this sentence a lot I used it as an example.
What about these options I wrote off the top of…
Mrt
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1 answer
What is the difference between "look", "see", and "watch"?
When should I use "look", "see", and "watch"?
I'm watching "Star Trek".
Have you seen "Star Trek"?
Are the examples above correct?
Be Brave Be Like Ukraine
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21
votes
5 answers
differences between dependence and dependency
In Merriam-Webster learner's dictionary, "dependence" is defined as "the state of being dependent"
and dependency as "the quality of being dependent; dependence".
According to the meaning, I think "dependence" is more likely to be used in concrete…
April
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21
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5 answers
What is the difference in meaning between "A majority of" and "The majority of"?
Does a difference in meaning between "A majority of" and "The majority of" exist?
For instance, do the following sentences have the same meaning?
A majority of the students are expected to vote in the class election.
The majority of the students…
Robbo
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21
votes
1 answer
"Can you please" vs. "Could you please"
I heard using 'could' is for politeness. When I request something, should I say "Can you please" or "Could you please"? Does the latter sound over-polite and pretentious?
Remo
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21
votes
3 answers
Can I be mobbed by only one person?
Is it correct word usage to say that I'm mobbed by a single person? The word mobbing comes from mob, which refers to a large number of people, so only one person mobbing sounds a bit strange.
FolksLord
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21
votes
4 answers
Why do native speakers sometimes use present continuous when it seems like it should be present simple?
I'm a teacher of English and I try to dive a bit deeper into the language I teach. I have a good command of grammar, but I sometimes hear things like:
(all these examples are from vlogs by natives speakers from the UK and Canada)
You can still make…
Lisablog
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21
votes
5 answers
What does "How come" mean?
Is How come a phrase? What does it mean? Is it formal or informal? British or American?
Can I use it in anywhere?
LeoHzs
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21
votes
5 answers
What are open street shops called?
In many places, people on the roadside have a small display of the products. It's not a proper shop where you have to open a door to get in; it's just like a roadside street shop.
I am not sure what to call these shops. Is there a good one word that…
nicku
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21
votes
1 answer
Is there a single word for "native English speaker"?
Is there a single word for someone who is a "native English speaker" (or more generally, for native speaker of language X)?
There are single words for people having given nationality (like Englishman), believing in given religion (like Christian),…
Danubian Sailor
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21
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3 answers
What does 'sus' mean in the sentence "People who joined Facebook after 2017 are sus."?
I saw a tweet:
People who joined Facebook after 2017 are sus.
What does this word "sus" mean in this sentence?
AGamePlayer
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21
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4 answers
"What does it sound like" vs "How does it sound like"
I'm currently doing a presentation and I have a slide where I show some speech examples from English speakers who have a certain type of pathological speech. I wrote the title "How does X speech sound like?" rather than "What does X speech sound…
boomkin
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21
votes
8 answers
What does "the proverbial middle finger" mean?
I read the following line on a certain book:
We've given the proverbial middle finger to the society
I know that proverbial means something to do with a proverb. But, how the middle finger has anything to do with proverbs? Isn't it more suitable…
Rickless
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21
votes
3 answers
According to Grammarly, this sentence is incorrect. But is it really?
I was given two movie tickets by my mother
I was using Grammarly and it says "by" should be replaced by "from".
Please find a link to the Grammarly checker here.
Tii
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21
votes
3 answers
"Whether" Vs. "If"
Could someone please help me with these sentences?
I need to know
Which one doesn’t sound natural?
Which one is formal and which one is not?
A - I don’t know whether this word fits in the sentence.
B - I don’t know if this word fits in the…
A-friend
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