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?
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Which is the correct usage of a proper noun and you? It was a pleasure meeting Jane and you. It was a pleasure meeting you and Jane.
Thanks!!
“Suddenly he heard something that was not imagination.”
If I add “could hear” to this sentence instead of “heard”, how do you feel? Is it strange? I would like to ask your opinions and reasons.
Anyone got an idea about the way this expression originated?
eg, “I am so not going there.”
Others googled: I am so NOT looking forward to that! I am so not a man. I am SO not surprised. I am so not prepare[d] for this Exams. I am so totally dead. [sic]
There’s a discussion here
Is “I am so not prepared for this meeting” functionally equivalent to “I am unprepared for this meeting.”
Perhaps it’s a matter of informal (or slang) vs formal expression.
I could have sworn that someone told me once that the proper use of one self when combining with one other was “me” and not “I”.
For example, if I want to state that:
“Jim and I discussed the proposal that was sent.”
really should be:
“Jim and me discussed the proposal that was sent.”
Can you clarify?
Why does it sound correct to say or hear “the only one I ever wanted”, but sound incorrect when saying “the one I ever wanted”? What is the secret of this little four letter word, “only”? There was a pop song out a few years back that used the latter phrase, and although it sounded so awful to my ears, I couldn’t really think of any reason that it was technically incorrect.
When do you use “in to” versus “into”?
Hi all!
It’s a wonderful blog. Congratulations!
I’m in this predicament:
What is the rule for using north/south/east/west and northern/southern/eastern/western with geographical names?
For example, why is it called “Eastern Europe” instead of “East Europe” and “North America” instead of “Northern America”. In this regard, which collocation is more acceptible - “Southern France” or “South France”. Why? What’s the rule?
Thanks!
I am university student, and take a seminar in a third grade. In the class, we were given assignments, which is we check on how native speakers feel or think about the following questions. So I would like to ask your opinions. Could you answer the following questions?
1. “The plane must land in a few minute.” When you read this sentence, what kind of situation do you imagine? I’d like to know the meaning of “must” in this sentence. So what kind of meaning does the “must” include?
2. In the same way, how about “He can seem so sane.”?
3. What is the difference among Look, See and Watch?
4. “He could hear the phone ringing on the other end but no one answered.” In this sentence, do you think the phone rang straight? Does “can/could + feeling verb” mean an instant or a moment situation.
Thank you very much for your time, and I’m looking forward to your opinions.
I have a friend insistent on saying the phrase “You gotta be joking me” when I think he should be saying “You have to be kidding me”.
Does anyone know anyone else who says this and can you tell me how wrong it is?
It might seem a bit nit-picky but I was wondering about how people say... oh this is hard to word for me. Take for instance, a whiny kid who wants to go the park. His mom takes him to the side and says, “Timmy(or something like that), everyone doesn’t want to go to the park.”
That’s a really bad example... But I’m wondering if that’s wrong, or if it’s any better at all to say, “Not everyone wants to go to the park.”
It’s just that when someone uses Everyone + Negative verb it seems like “Nobody” instead of “Only a certain few”--I think they mean. Of course if no one wanted to go they would just say, “Nobody wants to go”, not “Everyone does not want to go”... it’s weird the second way.
It grates my nerves to hear someone say “everyone can’t do it...” instead of “Not everyone can do it”. Maybe they don’t want to have a negative outlook. gyahhh.
Am I making sense? (no).
