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1500 questions
15
votes
2 answers
How to express that instructions (i.e. a recipe) should be followed precisely?
Suppose I'm giving a recipe (let's say, for a special cake) to a friend. I'd like to make sure he follows the recipe precisely down to the last minute detail.
Is there an idiom that I could use to express this? As in, "But you have to follow the…
doppelfish
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Do decades ever get apostrophes?
In researching whether to write 1960s or 1960's, I have found several sources stating that 1960s is correct: one, two, three.
On the other hand, this source states that:
In British usage, we do not use an apostrophe in pluralizing…
gerrit
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15
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2 answers
What does capital 'L' signify in labour?
Source:https://www.google.co.in/webhp?hl=en#hl=en&q=opposite+number
The agriculture minister and his Labour opposite number
Is that a mistake?
Anubhav
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15
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6 answers
Can I use "chance" as a future-tense verb?
I will never chance to meet him in my life
Is this sentence correct English, if it's intended to mean:
I will never get a chance to meet this person in my life.
Update: Since ambiguities arose, in respect of the acceptance of the phrase above,…
a_hanif
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15
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8 answers
"the police conspiracy" vs. "the police's conspiracy"
I am firmly convinced he is innocent and his accusation is the result of the police conspiracy.
I am firmly convinced he is innocent and his accusation is the result of the police's conspiracy.
Which sentence do you think is a better choice?
bart-leby
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15
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7 answers
Can "Nightmare" be seen?
I know what nightmare means,it is bad dream during sleeping.I would like know how we experience it. Do we see it, my sentence make sense?
Last night I've seen very bad nightmare.
Dragut
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15
votes
1 answer
Why is a "coat of arms" called so?
When I first encountered the coat of arms term, I failed to understand it correctly, trying literal meanings:
coat - an outer garment with sleeves, worn outdoors and typically extending below the hips
arms - multiple for: each of the two upper…
Denis Kulagin
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15
votes
2 answers
Does the notion of check word exist in English?
It is interesting if in English there is the notion of the check word? In Russian if we don't know how to spell a certain unstressed vowel in some cases we can find the check word ( проверочное слово ) which prompts us how to spell the word. For…
Fatimahon
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15
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7 answers
Should I use diacritical marks?
Being a speaker of several European languages, I'm always getting upset when I see people are using certain loanwords ignoring accent marks:
Sending my resume for your review;
We went to cafe;
The naive algorithm performs worse than an optimized…
Be Brave Be Like Ukraine
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15
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4 answers
Some exercises for the "th" sounds for a foreign learner
What is the right technique for acquiring the "th" sounds? Are there any really proved useful exercises or tongue twisters which can help to get them?
I think after some training I've managed to pronounce both th sounds (voiced and unvoiced)…
Roman Kruglov
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15
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5 answers
"They are Australian" vs "They are Australians"
On the very first page of "Essential Grammar in Use" book of R.Murphy. He wrote
Those people aren't English. They're Australian.
My question are
Is this sentence grammatically correct?
What is plural forms of "English" and…
fronthem
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15
votes
2 answers
I was wondering vs. I am wondering vs. I wonder
If I would like to make requests, should I use “I was wondering…” instead of “I am wondering…” and “I wonder…”? If yes, what’s the most appropriate situation to use “I am wondering…” and “I wonder…”?
nicolasyeh
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3 answers
What does the nutshell in “in a nutshell” stand for?
I know the meaning of “in a nutshell” but do not know what “nutshell” or “nut” itself stands for in this idiom.
Since it is a metaphor, I would like to know what it recalls to the speakers/listeners’ mind whose first langage is English. Etymology of…
cu39
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15
votes
6 answers
help you learn vs. help you to learn
Source: JavaScript: The Good Parts by Douglas Crockford (2008)
Example:
My goal here is to help you to learn to think in JavaScript. I will show you the components of the language and start you on the process of discovering the ways those…
Michael Rybkin
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15
votes
1 answer
Noun for people not yet confirmed as alive, or dead
In Italian, disperso (whose plural is dispersi) is a noun used for every person that is not yet confirmed as alive, or dead. The closer English word I can think is missing which is an adjective, and which I always heard as in missing in action.
Is…
apaderno
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