English Language Learners Stack Exchange
English Language Learners Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
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votes
3 answers

How to say "person who invites another person" with one word?

For example, we can simplify "a person who is invited by somebody" as "invitee". And does a short form exist for "a person who invites another person"?
Alex Silkovsky
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2 answers

Which is the plural of "forum": "fora" or "forums"?

I'm active on many discussion fora, but I see that people more often use the form forums. Are both forms correct and adequate? If so, why are there two forms for the plural of such a short word?
FolksLord
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3 answers

Difference between "Trip", "Travel", and "Journey"

Are there any significant differences between words trip, travel, and journey (nouns)? Are those interchangeable words or are there any specific expressions which uses one of them but not another?
Tom
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5 answers

Why does this documentation use "or" instead of "="?

I'm reading some Perl documentation. I noticed that "=" is not expressed as "equals" but as "or". For example: Perl provides the typical ordinary addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division operators, and so on. For example: 2 + 3 # 2…
NeilWang
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2 answers

Difference between "if + present, will + infinitive" and "if + present, would + infinitive"

What is the difference between the following two sentences. I will be surprised if he confesses. I would be surprised if he confesses. I know that the first is often referred to as first conditional. I see often sentences like the second one in…
Aki
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19
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6 answers

Is there a specific term to describe time 6:00, 7:00, 8:00 etc

I was talking to my friend the other day about the airport bus timings, I was supposed to say Buses are due at 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, 9:00 etc. (pattern like this the whole day between say 5 am to 11 pm) Is there any specific term or way to describe…
Max
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19
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6 answers

What do native speakers think of word roots?

As the number of English vocabularies required by my English literature teacher is increasing, I am now confronting a great problem memorizing them in a short time. Simple words are okay to me, but it's especially difficult when I come across words…
Yummy Sushi
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19
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2 answers

What's a word for something you do, but you don't like to mention it?

For instance, a business man might be cold and hard in his demeanor, but really enjoys watching childish cartoons. Or an exercise buff might also really enjoy deep fried chicken. It also might be a two word phrase, but I'm not entirely sure.
Alex
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19
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2 answers

How to pronounce 'll after ll?

“Reckon old Dill’ll be coming home tomorrow.” (Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird) How do you pronounce ‘ll after ll? (Would you let me get the IPA (phonetic alphabet))
Listenever
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2 answers

Is it sleeting?

I know "It's raining" and "It's snowing" are commonly accepted English phrases. Now does the same form apply to other forms of precipitation? It's sleeting, It's graupeling, It's hailing. Are these normal English expressions? If not, how does one…
SF.
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When to treat 'Police' as a singular noun and a plural noun?

I have seen that in some scenarios word police is treated as a singular noun and in some other scenarios it is treated as a plural noun. I don't know the exact difference! Can anybody provide few examples demonstrating the scenarios when the word…
SanjeevRai
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19
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4 answers

Why are there so many specific words for groups of animals?

I found this link to names of the groups of animals. I am confused because there are so many various congregations. Is there any guidance rather than learning by rote if I want to remember them?
xiaoyaolnm
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19
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3 answers

What does "to be painted shut" mean?

We tried, but the window couldn't be opened. It was painted shut. I am wondering what the bolded part could mean.
nima
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19
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3 answers

What do I call the ′ in mathematical formulae?

As in x′ = x + t "Ex (?) equals ex plus tee". In Russian it is called "штрих" (shtrikch).
Vi.
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19
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7 answers

What do you call this thing? "bag"?

I always need this when I buy stuff from the market. So, I need to know the real name for it. I always call it "bag" but it seems that it is not the correct name.
Marco Dinatsoli
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