Unanswered Questions
8,691 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
3
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4
answers
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Usage of some/any: how to grasp when to use them at all?
I'm a German ESL teacher. The distinction between "some" and "any" is a common grammar topic in every ESL school book I've ever used. I don't have any problems with the distinction,...
- 54k
3
votes
3
answers
348
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Are "can" and "be able to" interchangable in these examples?
To me, the following sentences sound correct.
The computer crashed yesterday but I could fix it.
She could pass the exam, even though she hadn't studied much.
However, my grammar book
states that ...
CommunityBot
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3
votes
1
answer
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Do we use "on the blockchain" or "in the blockchain"?
I am not a native English speaker, and I have a hard time to distinguish between on and in especially in cases like "the cloud" or "the blockchain"
For instance: That software is ...
CommunityBot
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3
votes
2
answers
305
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Do I use the past simple or the present perfect after "I've been meaning" as in "I've been meaning to do something, but I've always forgotten/forgot"?
Could you tell me if I have to use the past simple or the present perfect after I've been meaning in the context below?
I've been meaning to watch the movie, but I always forgot to till now.
I've ...
CommunityBot
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3
votes
2
answers
388
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"had + past participle " VS "could have + past participle " in conditional sentence
The following sentence is collected from cricinfo.com:
They were under a little bit of pressure then. If we could have carried on, we could have set them 220 or even more than that. So to get out ...
CommunityBot
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3
votes
2
answers
434
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contractions: "I have been" vs "I have a"
I have been waiting here
a) I've been waiting here
I have a car
a) I've a car
When it's comes to the first one the abbreviation is corrrect but what about the second one? It seems to be odd but what'...
CommunityBot
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3
votes
2
answers
1k
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Are "I would rather I stayed home than go out" the same as "I would rather stay home than go out"?
I came across this sentence in the Grade 10 Vietnamese English grammar.
I would rather that it were not summer now.
My question is that that sentence does not have a main verb after "rather&...
- 9,525
3
votes
1
answer
246
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It got too much for him
"He tried to be supportive, but it got too much for him."
I was generating phrases using ChatGPT and it generated a phrase that
doesn't sound idiomatic.
When I questioned about this odd ...
- 54k
3
votes
3
answers
758
views
"If I knew what you want/wanted to eat tonight"
Context:
I am talking to my friend, trying to find out what she wants to eat tonight.
"What do you want to eat tonight?"
"You know what I want to eat."
"If I knew what you ...
- 31.3k
3
votes
5
answers
312
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Can "in percentage terms" change the ranking of subjects in a list?
Thailand spent 15% GDP on education--60 billion dollars
India spent 13% GDP on education--100 billion dollars
Georgia spent 14% GDP on education--80 billion dollars.
(Made-up statistics)
Are the ...
CommunityBot
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3
votes
4
answers
851
views
Can "unless" be used in unreal past (with would have)?
I found conflicting information about the subject:
BBC World Service states that:
And we cannot use unless with would to talk about unreal future
situations:
If he didn't take everything so ...
CommunityBot
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2
votes
2
answers
53
views
First conditional sentence or second conditional sentence?
Occasionally, I encounter questions like the one below on our local English teachers' forum.
She doesn't study. She won't pass the exam. (Rewrite with "If")
As soon as the question ...
CommunityBot
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2
votes
1
answer
142
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The odds of something are the same as (those of) some other thing
In the following sentences (taken from The New York Times)
The odds of me getting hit by a sniper out here are the same as [the odds of] being struck by lightning.
The odds of getting two of a kind ...
CommunityBot
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2
votes
1
answer
139
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Perfect tenses and the use
The way to express that we will have done something for some time till a point in time is to use future perfect and say for instance
I will have been working/will have worked there for 2 years on ...
- 1,700
2
votes
3
answers
202
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An 'autopsy-esque table' or 'autopsy table-esque table'?
In this sentence I drafted, I am unsure if the modifier 'autopsy-esque' is correct or not for a table:
At the funeral home in Suzhou, the body of my friend was placed on an autopsy-esque table, in a ...
CommunityBot
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