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 : Grammar
I am recently married and don’t really understand how to pluralize (is that a real word?:)) my new last name, Nash. For example, if I want to have a party at my house, would I invite people to meet at “The Nashes” house or “The Nash’s” house? My husband and in-laws state that the first use is correct but my friends seem to want to use the latter version. Some enlightenment please!
A TV ad about a food company uses the phrase: I’m loving it! how can I explain the use of the verb ‘I love’ in the Present Continuous? According to the British English Grammar, some verbs such as ‘I love’ have no continuous form.
Both “if” and “whether” can introduce a subordinate clause: “I was wondering if you would come” and “I was wondering whether you would come”. However, the phrase “whether or not”, as in “I was wondering whether or not you would come” is okay, but “if or not” in the same context seems not okay - google searches bring up 100 million hits for the first phrase, but just 15,000 for the second. This came up in a class I was in, and I was surprised because I do use “if or not” in informal speech; why are these two phrases different? In both cases the “or not” is redundant, if you think about it.
I hear this all the time while in a hold queue on the phone, but it sounds like bad English to me. I would prefer “...in the order in which it was received”, although that does sound a little overwrought. I just can’t think of anything better. What do you experts say?
I recently came across a construction about which I’m unsure, as the construction makes the functions of the individual parts a bit unclear.
The sentence is, “Social players (and even me!) would be interested to know people’s birthdays.”
I contended that the text within the parentheses should be corrected to “(and even I)” considering one would not say “Me would be interested.” However, I was told that, in the above sentence, “and even me” functions like “you and me.”
I don’t see how that applies. Which is the correct construction, and why?
I can’t figure out which of the following is correct. It makes sense that “couple” would be singular, but it looks wrong in this sentence. What would you do?
There is a couple who (is/are) leaning on the wall of a building.
If I come from country A, but currently I am in country B (for 5-10 years/study or job assignment) what tenses do I use for this sentence (situation: when I have to introduce myself)? -I live in B -I am living in B
Do you use both these in your variant?
“What does he want us to do when the boss arrives?” (action can begin at the moment the woman arrives)
“What does he want us to be doing when the boss arrives?” (action must begin before the woman arrives)
They have provided no evidence of contacting either Joseph or I.
Did I use “I” correctly?
I’m often quite confused when to use the’-ed” with such words. Is there fundamentally, any difference between “large-scale project” and “large-scaled project”?
Cheers Eva
