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1500 questions
26
votes
4 answers
'Back in 2000' vs 'In 2000'
I'm familiar with preposition 'in' in terms of using past tense. E.g. to denote that something is hapenning during the year 2000, I can say:
I joined the project in 2000
But in some authentic articles, I often come across collocation "back in…
The Dreams Wind
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Plurality of verb depending on plurality of list elements
This question is also open on EL&U:
“There Is”/“There are” depends on plurality of the first list element or not?
Considering the amount of controversy it aroused, I believe it's past "Learners'" level.
An edit was suggested to my sentence.
There…
SF.
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"None of the kids were hungry" Or "None of the kids was hungry"
Were is used with plural pronouns
The kids were hungry.
And we can add "None of":
None of the kids were hungry.
But I read a lot of articles and books use "was" with "None of":
None of the kids was injured.
None of them was so unconcerned about…
Shannak
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26
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4 answers
What does "Rabbit hole" mean?
I've found this phrase appears more than twice. Ted-ed at 1:15
So, to use matrices, we need to learn how they work. It turns out, you can treat matrices just like regular numbers. You can add them, subtract them, even multiply them. You can't…
Rain
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26
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2 answers
"Add-in salt to injury"?
I've never seen "Add-in salt to injury" but I know "Add insult to injury" exists. I had a grammar exercise that asked for the most suitable idiom
or proverb for expressing:
To make something bad become worse
So I wrote "Add insult to injury". But…
Mohd Zulkanien Sarbini
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26
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12 answers
When people brag about their abilities and belittle their opponents before a battle, competition, etc
I'm writing an article about a myth in which two epic heroes facing each other before a single combat. The part I'm at now is when the two heroes start bragging about their abilities and things they've accomplished while at the same time they try to…
Yuri
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25
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6 answers
"She dressed like/as an owl." Which is correct?
She dressed like an owl.
She dressed as an owl.
"As" or "like"? Which one is more appropriate? My brother said that the second one is correct. He said that first one means "she dressed like an owl does."
user25493
25
votes
4 answers
Term for bed sheet that embraces and partially encapsulates the mattress
I went to IKEA and got me a new sheet. It's awesome on the bed because instead of being "sheety", it's got those rubber parts so one doesn't fold it under the mattress to keep it in place but rather skewers it or maybe embraces it onto it.
What's…
Konrad Viltersten
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25
votes
3 answers
Sorry for your loss. But why?
There are many times when at the time of giving condolence or showing sympathy to someone, we say "Sorry for your loss". What does the word "Sorry" signify here? Why it is "Sorry for your loss" and not," Sad to know about your loss"? The word sorry…
Bharat
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25
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8 answers
Should I say: She is 'no' student or She is 'not' a student?
I'm always confused with that issue. Should I say
She is no student
or
She is not a student
Or are both of them equal? If they are, what is the difference between them?
Virtuous Legend
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25
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7 answers
Does "take a second" mean "take a second look"?
This one drives me insane, and it’s become extremely common among bloggers. All it takes to avoid this error is to take a second and think about what you’re trying to say.
Source:…
bart-leby
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25
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4 answers
"The bass drop is so sick!..." - What does it mean?
Being a fan of a dubstep music, I often see comments like this:
"Looooove this tune! The bass drop is so sick!..."
To my understanding, sick has negative connotation. Merriam-Webster defines this word as "affected with a disease or disorder",…
Be Brave Be Like Ukraine
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25
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15 answers
Why is "a road" incorrect in this test?
I apparently made a mistake in this text: http://www.learnenglish.de/games/articles/articles.html, where you have to fill in "a", "an" or "the" in the blanks.
The relevant parts are:
Looking out of {a/an/the} window I can see {a/an/the} young man.…
Hey
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25
votes
2 answers
Double zero, double zeros or double zeroes?
What's the correct way to refer to two consecutive digits 0?
double zero?
double zeros?
double zeroes?
Here's an example phrase:
The number ends with double zero[es].
talles
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25
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2 answers
"fits" or "suits" my needs?
In a formal letter, what kind of sentence could I write?
The programme perfectly suits my needs.
The programme perfectly fits my needs.
EDIT: According to a dictionary the phrase with "fits" makes more sense. I use this phrase for a educational…
John Brunner
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