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.
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Latest Posts : Misc
I thought you could put /s/ on a copy of a signed letter to indicate the original had been signed. Right or wrong?
Can anyone tell me why the second ‘a’ in Canada and Canadian is pronounced differently?
I’m English/British and I and from England/Britain.
Surely it should either be Can-a-da & Can-a-dian or Can-ay-da & Can-ay-dian...
My guess is it has something to do with the French influence, but I would love to know for sure.
Here in the UK our language has been heavily influenced over the years, including by the French and it has always interested where these things start or change.
I was in empty space in an elevator one day when it occurred to me that it’s actually “pains-taking”, the taking of pains to do something thoroughly. I’d never thought about it before.
But it’s too hard to pronounce “painz-taking”, because the “z” sound must be voiced; whereas the unvoiced “s” combines easily with the “t” to make “-staking”, so that’s what we say. That’s my theory, but BrE might be different. Is it?
Why does the Western media have so many different spellings for some Arabic terms?
eg:
1. hezbollah hesbollah hizbullah hizbollah hisbollah
2. ayatollah ayatullah
I’m having a custom item made to indicate when our home was established. The year will be the year my husband and I were married and started our family. My issue is I’m not sure how our name should appear. Here is the text.
The (LAST NAME)
Est. 2008
Our last name is Myers. Please help! I’m not sure if it should be possessive (ownership of the home/family) or plural (for the people).
At the clinic I was directed to the “subwait area” and left to ponder my fate. I did wonder whether this should be sub-wait and how fully portable “sub” has become as a preposition and/or prefix, when attached to a Germanic-rooted word. What other words are there where “sub” is used as an English word, apart from phrases like “sub judice” and “sub” as a short form of “substitute” eg in sport “he was subbed off”?
Can you please comment on a trend that I have noticed recently. More and more people seem to be pronouncing words that contain the letters “str” as if they were written “shtr”. Strong sounds like shtrong, strange sounds like shtrange, and so on. I have noticed even my favorite NPR journalists mispronouncing these words. I first noticed this pronunciation in one of Michelle Obama’s early speeches. I’d appreciate any insight that you might have.
I have always believed, probably in common with most Scots, that the pronunciation of “gill” varies depending on whether one is referring to the organ of respiration in fishes and other water-breathing animals ( /ɡɪl/ ), or a measure of liquid (/dʒɪl/ ), or even one of the many other variations of the word. I was therefore somewhat surprised recently when watching an episode of QI to hear the erstwhile Stephen Fry and his guests use /ɡɪl/ for both the fishy organ and the liquid measure..
Does anyone know if there are rules governing the pronunciation of “a”? It’s either “AYE” or “UH”, depending on the word following. My preference is dictated by how it sounds and how it flows off the tongue, but I have never been able to establish if actual rules exist.
Americans and Australians tend to use “AYE” all the time and sometime it just sounds ridiculous, like...”Aye man driving aye car stopped at aye traffic light”
What diacritic would I use over the word YANA to accent the first a as an “ah” (short o) sound. It is pronounced Yahna. Thanks!
Latest Comments
Not only but also : complex or compound
- Don_Abbey
- February 26, 2021, 12:29am
Cool insformation, thank you!
“hate with passion”
- venqax
- February 25, 2021, 6:33pm
I think you're correct to say that including "a" in all the examples slightly changes the meaning of the phrase. Both a'ed and a-less seem grammatically fine. I would also say that "hate with a passion", specifically, is an idiomatic expression, so somewhat immune to routine rules. You done good. It ain't over till it's over.
Not only but also : complex or compound
- venqax
- February 25, 2021, 6:13pm
I would say that with the use of "not only", the "also" is simply redundant, and so unnecessary. The "but" might not even be needed, though just being concise for its own sake isn't always the best way to go.
"Not only did George buy the house, but he remodeled it."
By the time
- venqax
- February 25, 2021, 6:06pm
I think either would be okay, grammatically. As others have said, in this case "was starting" might be more specific and therefore informative, if in fact the film was just beginning. Saying "had started" is more ambiguous about how long it had been running. If it had been going for, say, half an hour, you probably wouldn't say it was starting, but might still say it had started.
Is "resubstantial" even a "real" word?
- venqax
- February 25, 2021, 5:52pm
Just curious, but what is "resubstantial" intended to mean, in context?
Fora vs Forums
- BGraz8010
- February 25, 2021, 4:51am
I love your pop up. Just clicked "no" on the "need a proofreader" question and was greeted with: "OK, genius. Good luck." The next time I do need a proofreader, you will be my first stop. All the best!
Fora vs Forums
- BGraz8010
- February 25, 2021, 4:49am
My complements on your hilarious pop up. I just clicked "no" on the "need a proofreader question" and was greeted with "OK genius, Good luck." I love it. The next time I do need a proofreader you will be my first stop. All the best!
“my” vs. “mine” in multiple owner possessive
- Dori9274
- February 23, 2021, 6:10am
Why be so stilted? Thanks for taking our child to school, (or wherever). Presumably you know the driver well enough to trust them with your child, and the child has been sired by someone, the important matter is we trust you, and thank you, not there are two people involved in the kid’s life.
“my” vs. “mine” in multiple owner possessive
- Dori9274
- February 23, 2021, 6:01am
Why not just say.. my blabla, as well as my son’s will cost over $400.
Not only but also : complex or compound
Thank you for such a visual explanation of the subject. I think it will be useful for many students. I advise those who want to master grammar at an excellent level to use training videos on YouTube, in which experienced teachers tell the grammar rules of the English language in an accessible form. I found more than a hundred videos on this topic there and noticed that most of them were posted by channels with about 23 thousand subscribers! I am sure this is because the authors of such channels used the services of http://soclikes.com/ in order to wind up subscribers for YouTube.