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1500 questions
27
votes
10 answers
Why is "He knows to swim" incorrect?
I was reading a website where common English sentence errors are written -
INCORRECT - He doesn't know to swim.
CORRECT - He doesn't know how to swim.
I know He doesn't know how to swim is a correct sentence. But why is the other one wrong, is my…
Man_From_India
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27
votes
1 answer
Why is it "your" and not "yours" in "to see your on Amazon account activity"
I have read on the Amazon Pay page:
You can find all your off Amazon account activity here.
Click Amazon Orders below to see your on Amazon account activity.
Why does it say "your"? As far as I know it should be "yours". Is it OK in the American…
Gamal Thomas
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27
votes
4 answers
If a sentence ends with an abbreviation (e.g. "[...] he lived in the U.S."), does that mean "U.S" is a correct abbreviation?
I came across the sentence "He visited Chicago many times when he lived in the U.S.", and seemingly the last period is for the ending of the sentence. So is "U.S" a correct abbreviation? This is a sentence from an exam question and I am a bit too…
Taro
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27
votes
4 answers
what is the difference between "yet" and "still"?
what is the difference between "yet" and "still"?
When we can use "still"? and when we can use "yet"?
Are they synonyms or not?
"The plan could yet succeed." Can I use "still" in that sentence instead of "yet"?
"I still don't understand." Can I…
Ice Girl
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27
votes
12 answers
"Four is better" vs "Four are better". Which one is correct?
I want to write:
One cake is good, but 4 {is,are} better!
Which one ("are" or "is") should I use?
Looking at examples online it seems that both are acceptable.
So here are my questions:
Which one is grammatically correct (one? both?)
Which one is…
zeh
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27
votes
4 answers
What is the meaning of "Dog ate my car"?
I was watching a movie called The book of Henry. One day Henry's mother goes to work late. Her manager told her, "Late again!", and she replied, "Dog ate my car." So, I heard about Dog ate my homework, but I have never heard about that excuse.
Hozan Ali
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27
votes
10 answers
I get “the” train and “a” bus
Before I started renting the workshop at the open-air museum, I would crawl out of bed in the morning, get dressed and go straight into the garage, which I'd converted into a studio. Now I get the train and a bus, so I have to get up…
user117023
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27
votes
6 answers
What are the correct pronouns for referring to someone whom I have never met in person when the gender is apparent?
I want to mention someone whom I know of only by references on the Internet such as forums and blogs(clarification: I want to write about the person, not to write to the person). This person uses a username of a woman’s first name with a lady’s…
Michael Freidgeim
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27
votes
8 answers
How can I describe being temporarily stupid?
I am looking for a word/phrase that means "being temporarily stupid/silly" and fits in these situations.
Situation A Some guy solves a math problem using a very complex method, and some other person shows him a very simple solution. The guys then…
trisct
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27
votes
9 answers
Greeting with "Ho"
The other day, in a chat room, I was greeted with:
Hi!
I'm a nice person so I greeted back with:
Ho!
But then I got a reply:
No! I'm not a Ho!
I thought Ho is an interjection similar to Hey, Hello and Ahoy. But a Ho seems to indicate it is a…
Cyker
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27
votes
16 answers
What's the polite way to say "I need to urinate"?
What's the polite way in the UK to say "I need to urinate" (both for men and for women)? Or maybe there's no problem with that sentence?
N.b. I'm asking about situations in which I know where it's located but I need to inform the one/s that I'm…
Virtuous Legend
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27
votes
6 answers
A pro and a con at the same time
Is there a word for anything that is a con and a pro at the same time. I mean it is both good and bad, has both a minus and a plus, is an advantage and a disadvantage at the same time.
A second entrance door is a ____
Two heads is a ____
A fifth…
SovereignSun
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27
votes
3 answers
Why is New York often said with the word "City" in English?
Usually, while watching some videos/movies or reading books in English, I tend to see that people always adding the word "City" to New York(New York City).
What's behind this stuff in English? I can only guess that it's used just to distinguish…
dvelopp
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27
votes
12 answers
Do native speakers pronounce "found the remark" without the "the"?
Haley found the remark disrespectful and felt she couldn't keep quiet,
the sources said.
I heard someone read this, and I can hardly hear "the" between "found" and "remark".
Zhang
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27
votes
10 answers
Can any time on clock be spoken as it is in numbers only (hour + minutes)?
According to the Cambridge dictionary, the answer for “What time is it?” depends on the minutes.
When the times outside five-minute intervals, we say minutes past or
minutes to:
9.01 one minute past nine
9.03 three minutes past nine
9.36…
Virtuous Legend
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