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English Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [context]

A context describes the surroundings for a sentence.

Without context, questions can be meaningless.

For example:

Who is President?

is meaningless unless the country is specified. The country in this case is the context.

She said/says she was sorry

completely depends on the context of the statement, i.e. the current situation in the rest of the text.

143 questions
22
votes
32 answers

A word with two meanings though misuse could be lethal

I'm currently writing an article that includes two contexts of communication: effectiveness and competence. Incompetent people can misuse terminology all day and the ideas are effective and do technically work. However I'm looking for a word or term…
John
  • 415
4
votes
3 answers

Is it okay to use "babysit" verb in context of own kids?

Say, my wife has to run some errands in the morning, and I have to announce at my work that I will be missing for some time. Are both correct? I have to babysit in the morning. I have to watch my kids in the morning. It looks like Oxford…
Leksat
  • 141
2
votes
2 answers

Is the word "or" used to always describe two different things?

For example in the words in law "cruel or unusual punishment" are the two implied to be different things or different meanings of the same thing ?
Jsvfhegrbdbfb
  • 31
1
vote
2 answers

Blank dialogue question

I recently had this question on a placement exam, and I got it wrong. Which best fills in the blank dialogue between the options in the following conversation? A : Recently, I've been sleeping far less than I normally do. Do you think this could…
Deniz
  • 11
  • 1
0
votes
0 answers

1st time being here for clarification please make a separate box for explanation of context of the question. Wink wink #context

Someone please message the curator or webmasters of this site to enable a context in box where someone can explain the scenario of the question they are asking, if we have the background information then we can better answer their question and waste…
Gano Perez Jr Gano
  • 1
0
votes
1 answer

In what context can I say "I could come here because of you"?

If I made it to a special place because of someone and I'm grateful for that, which one makes more sense? I could come here because of you I came here because of you Another expression-related question - which one is correct? Many thanks to your…
user469589
  • 1
0
votes
1 answer

the context of part of sentence

If they go for it, I think Spurs will score on Saturday, it is just what else happens at the other end that is the worry for Pochettino' side. I don't understand the context of this sentence.
Alex Choi
  • 15
0
votes
1 answer

meaning of "farmers who receive state subsidies" in context

Western involvement in Africa should go far beyond the purchase of oil and minerals, and requires sacrifices from all wealthy countries, Western and non-Western. The matter of agricultural subsidies ranks high in this category. The majority of…
poohew
  • 35
0
votes
1 answer

the gist of the passage question

I recently had this question on a placement exam, and I got it wrong. (I'm sorry it is a bit long question but it is not boring) The influence of technology on diplomacy can be illustrated by leaked and misunderstood telegrams, which shaped the…
Deniz
  • 11
  • 1
-1
votes
2 answers

Is "dying" a transitional state or completed act?

In the following paragraph is "dying" a completed act, so that Margie is dead, or is it a process, so that Margie is in a state of dying? Is the context sufficient to establish the meaning? But who would believe the ramblings of a mad man with…
Zan700
  • 3,376
-1
votes
1 answer

English language question combined with Math from Movie Heat

I asked about this to an American, I couldn't understand why 'additional 40%' instead of 60%. Look, Van Zant. Nobody knew the merch was yours or they would have respected it. Be that asit may: now you get 100% from the insurance company and …
hermes
  • 73