Discussion Forum
This is a forum to discuss the gray areas of the English language for which you would not find answers easily in dictionaries or other reference books.
Do You Have a Question?
Latest Posts
“Some people may have doubt that why invest in these sectors during the economy slump?”
Is the above phrase grammatically correct?
Is it grammatically correct to use ‘doubt that’ when the ‘doubt’ is a NOUN?
For example: 1) VERB: I doubt that Fred has really lost 25 pounds ... 2) NOUN: Some people may have doubts that .....
“May you please send me the...” Is this correct? It doesn’t sound right. I believe this person is using the same logic as asking permission to do something. Wouldn’t ” Will you please send me the...” or “Would you please...” be correct?
Does the acronym ITS (Information Technology Services) take a singular verb or plural i.e.,
ITS is thinking of redoing the website.
ITS are thinking of redoing the website.
Since the last word is plural, wouldn’t it make sense to make the verb plural, even though it doesn’t sound good?
Would you write ‘four day’s journey’ or ‘four days journey’?
I am having a tussle with a sub. I know it’s ‘Long Day’s Journey into Night’ but surely the journey doesn’t belong to the four days, so it should be ‘four days journey’ - and presumably ‘a four-day journey’ would be even better?
What do you think?
Is the following phrase using correct grammar, why or why not? And how would you describe this phrase? It’s just weird to me:
“Hey, you’re that goofy kid Sandra makes do crazy stuff!!”
Basically Sandra makes this kid do goofy stuff and someone has spotted him, did they use correct grammar?
It just sounds weird to me, especially the “make do” part. Whether this is grammatically correct, what are the grammatical rules that would apply to a phrase like this? Thanks so much!
When excess is used an as adjective, are these words the same. Is there a case for using one over another?
When I was in my linguistics class in college, my prof said using the verb be in this context was actually more grammatically correct than when we say “He calls me up all the time,” or “He’s always calling me,” etc. I can’t find my notes or any other info...can someone give an explanation? Thank you!
I am designing an answer form for multiple choice and true-false examinations. The form has also an instruction how to fill it out. I would like to know if the English is correct and if it is clear what I mean. The students have to fill in the box of their choice for every question, that is to “blacken” the box as they say.
Here is the instruction as I formulated it:
INSTRUCTION TO FILL OUT THE FORM
1. Use a blue or black ballpoint for filling out the requested information at the top of the form and for encoding your student number in the designated boxes.
2. Use a pencil (preferably HB) when giving the answers. Use an eraser for corrections. Do not use correction fluid or tape.
3. Answer every question by filling in the box of your choice (fill in one box only!).
At first I wrote regarding point 2 “Use a pencil (preferably HB) for filling out the answers.”, but someone told me that “when giving the answers” would be better English. Further I would like to know what the correct place of “only” is. Should one write “fill in one box only!” of “fill in only one box”?
I would appreciate your comments. Thanking you in advance.
I need to list the people in a photo, below the photo. The picture will be framed, not in a magazine, etc. What is the proper punctuation? The way I originally typed the names follows but I am ready to finalize the layout and want to know the proper format. The way I have it now:
1. Catherine, March 11, 1874; 2. Alice Bell, July 8, 1875; 3. Birdie Alberdine, February 14, 1877; 4. Mary Adella, November 15, 1879… and so on for eight people.
If I number each person, is additional punctuation required between the names as I have typed it or do the numbers stand alone? Should the individual names even be numbered? I am really not certain what the proper format is.
I am on a deadline to complete this restored photo and layout for a client so a prompt reply would be greatly appreciated.
One of our regular contributors, porsche, informed me that submitting a comment redirects you to Microsoft’s website. Sorry about that. I keep track of the IP addresses of Spammers, and I send all the spammers to Microsoft’s website. I recently moved the site to a different server, and the new server was returning the same IP address for everyone, and I ended up listing that IP address as a Spammer’s. And, so the site considered everyone who commented as a Spammer. That’s what happened.
But that’s a long, boring, technical story, and what matters is that it’s working fine now.
Thank you, porsche, for informing me of this problem. If anyone ever experience any problems like this on this site, please let me know.
