ESL Common English Questions and Answers - Archived Posts

Noun/Adjective/Adverb Clauses

LaryMooCow — Wed, 26 May 2004 02:16:39 GMT

I don't understand any of the clauses I have a really hard time identifying them. Can anybody help me? Give me some hints?

How to pronounce a 't' in American English

CalifJim — Mon, 22 May 2006 01:51:41 GMT

Allophones of /t/ in Standard American English

I find these symbols the easiest to use without access to an IPA font. They also have the advantage that you can place them right into an English word to illustrate where they are used. (t'omato, stat'istics, wi.tness, bottom, mat'ress).

Symbol     Name                            Description
    t'          aspirated t            t with an audible escape of air
                                              The more aspirated the t,
                                                the more the sound
                                                approaches "ch"

   .t        stopped t;             onset of t only without the final
            (unreleased t)                                escape of air
                      Often accompanied by a glottal stop -
                                               a sort of tightening in the throat

    t        tapped t                a voiced consonant; similar to
                                                the flapped r of Spanish or Italian

    t        neutral t                not aspirated, stopped, nor tapped

If you want to get down to even narrower phonetic transcriptions, you can, but I don't think this would be useful to anyone but a specialist.

To be continued.
CJ

Dashes and Hyphens

Guest — Fri, 08 Oct 2004 19:43:42 GMT

When is a dash used in writing a range? For example, it does not seem appropriate when the range is preceded by a prepostion, such as "from A-Z". It seems like that should require "from A to Z". Or "lays between 2-4 eggs" should be "lays between 2 and 4 eggs". But: "it lays 2-4 eggs".

Another question: would "between 2 and 4 eggs" mean 3 eggs? 3 is between 2 and 4. More properly, "lays from 2 to 4 eggs"? If something happened on October 8, 9, and 11, would it be correct to say "between October 8 and 11", "between October 7 and 12", would a dash be appropriate? "from October 8 to 12" doesn't seem right, since to me that implies all dates, and it did not happen on October 10. These types of ranges are use often in my field, and the way they are expressed is all over the board. I would appreciate your input.

One last thing: is there a space before and after the dash? With numbers it looks fine without (2-4), but with a mix it looks funny to me (October 20-November 4).

Vowels in unstressed syllables

EyeSeeYou — Fri, 12 May 2006 18:53:29 GMT

I understand that vowels in the unstressed syllables are often pronounced /É/ or /I/ .

My question is: how do I know when to use /É/ and when to use /I/?

Collective nouns and Group Nouns

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 02:45:46 GMT

Is the word "High school" a collective noun.

Also, would the name of a specific school be collective.

So long as vs. as long as

TimKowal — Sun, 14 Aug 2005 21:28:43 GMT

Such ubiquitous phrases puzzle me; I don't know if there is a difference (preferential?), and if there is, when to use one over the other.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Tim

Omission of "that" as subordinate conjunction

SpoonfedBaby — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 06:40:10 GMT

Dear Helpers,

I donât know when I can omit the word âthat.â I looked for the word âthatâ in the index of my grammar book. I found it in different chapters.

Case ( A ) : Object of a verb:
The man (that) I saw told me to come back today.
This is the best hotel (that) I know.

Note:
I read âIf it is the object of a verb, the âthatâ can be removed.â

Case ( B ) :The conditional:
I hope (that) I will succeed.
I hoped (that) I would succeed.
He thinks (that) they will give him a visa.
He thought (that) they would give him a visa.

Note:
âthatâ are in parentheses in the book.

Case ( C ) :Reported speech
He explained that he never ate meat.
He said he was waiting for Ann.
He said he had found a flat.
He said that Ann would be in Paris on Monday.
Peter said that they ought to widen the road.
Bill said he would be 21 the following day.

Case ( D) :Noun clauses introduced by that:
It occurred to me that he might be lying.
It appears that we have come on the wrong way.
It is a pity that he didnât come earlier.
He was relieved that no one had been hurt.
Iâm delighted that you can come.

I understand that in the cases A and B, the word âthatâ can be omitted. I donât know about the cases C and D. Can I omit the "that?"

Thanks in advance....

Spoonfedbaby
>>

Facing the prospect of speaking with native speakers

Sheena84 — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 08:55:23 GMT

Hi There,
I am wondering if anyone could explain me the meanings of the following terms,

supraterritoriality
Interdependence

I will appreaciate Your Helps.

Rules for doubling consonants in inflected forms

EyeSeeYou — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 23:13:56 GMT

... consonants on gerund and past simple of regular verbs. Can anybody refresh me those? Or maybe there's already a thread about it which I cannot seem to find...

Thank you.

Prepositional verbs and phrasal verbs

hanuman_2000 — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 05:04:47 GMT

Sir,

Some prepositions also function as an adverb.

How to distinguish them properly?

please Explain it to me if there are some rules.

Thanks.

Present Tense

jack112 — Sun, 02 Jan 2005 12:31:29 GMT

Are these correct? What do they mean?

1. I just found out about it right now. (If this is correct, why?)
2. I just find out about it right now.

Modals

ezfred0131 — Sat, 01 Jan 2005 21:02:23 GMT

Hi friends,

I need your help on the following. I don't think my English is all that bad, but I frequently get confused when trying to use the following verbs. A detailed description with examples is as follows:

-------
may
might
-------

May I come in?
Might I come in?

She may do it / She may not do it.
She might do it / She might not do it.

She may have done it / She may not have done it.
She might have done it / She might not have done it.

------
can
could
------

Can I take you for dinner?
Could I take you for dinner?

He can do it / He can't do it.
He could do it / He couldn't do it.

He can have done it / He can't have done it.
He could have done it / He couldn't have done it.

-------
shall
should
-------

Shall we meet after lunch today?
Should we meet after lunch today?

She shall do it / She shall not do it.
She should do it / She should not do it.

She shall have done it / She shall not have done it.
She should have done it / She should not have done it.

-------
must
have to
-------
Must I assemble here?
Do I have to assemble here?
Have I to assemble here? (Haven't used this construct anytime in my life, not even sure if this is grammatically correct)

He must do it / He must not do it.
He has to do it / He doesn't have to do it.

He must have done it / He must not have done it.
He has have to do it (?) / He hasn't have to do it (?)

-------
will
would
-------

Will you get me the check, please?
Would you get me the check, please?

She will do it / She will not do it.
She would do it / She would not do it.

She will have done it / She will not have done it.
She would have done it / She would not have done it.

Thanks!!

Due to

Julietta — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 12:12:43 GMT

Dear all,

I recently posted a letter of motivation and Mountainhiker, the moderator told me to check my sentences with "due to"...
I didn't find any satisfacional answer searching the web, so hopefully you can help me with this...

" Due to different freight forwarding and custom regulations, I learned to cooperate with diffent parties and matters."

"Due to my work experience in different companies and employment with the most different personalities, I can offer my extended language skills, profound organisation skills as well as my ability to get easiliy used to new projects to my future employee."

Thank you for any advice!!!

Julia

Words without vowels

Madhivanan — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 06:30:56 GMT

Hi,
There are some words without vowels. Sky, spy,cry,my,why,shy. All these words have the alphabet 'y'. So can we consider 'y' as sub-vowel? What are oher words without vowels?

Conditional with Modal Verbs

jack112 — Sat, 11 Dec 2004 16:21:43 GMT

Why is #1 correct and #2 is incorrect?
1. If she has time, she could go to the party.
2. If she has time, she would go to the party.

Are these correct? If not, why? What do they mean?
3. If she had time, she might go to the party. (This is correct? How come 'might' is not in past tense? How come 'might' is not 'would'? )
4. If she had time, she can go to the party. (How come #3 is correct but #4 is not?)
5. If she had time, she should go to the party. (Is this correct? Why?)

Simple past vs Present perfect

hanuman_2000 — Wed, 06 Oct 2004 03:46:57 GMT

Sir,

1. I wrote a letter.

2. I have written a letter.

What is difference between these two sentences?

I know that 1) is in simple past tesnse and 2) is persent perfect.

But, both as I think suggest that work has completed in past.

Please explain a bit to clear the usage of simple past and Persent perfect tense.

Rules for using hyphens

taiwandave — Wed, 23 Jun 2004 17:11:59 GMT

There have been a number of recent questions concerning when to use hypens. The following is an excerpt from The Economist magazine's style guide.

Â© The Economist Newspaper Limited 2004

Use hyphens for:

1. FRACTIONS (whether nouns or adjectives): two-thirds, four-fifths, one-sixth, etc.

2. MOST WORDS THAT BEGIN with anti, non and neo. Thus anti-aircraft, anti-fascist, anti-submarine (but antibiotic, anticlimax, antidote, antiseptic, antitrust); non-combatant, non-existent, non-payment, non-violent (but nonaligned, nonconformist, nonplussed, nonstop); neo-conservative, neo-liberal (but neoclassicism, neolithic, neologism).

Words beginning Euro should also be hyphenated, except Europhile, Europhobe and Eurosceptic; euro zone and euro area.

Some words that become unmanageably long with the addition of a prefix. Thus under-secretary and inter-governmental. Antidisestablishmentarianism would, however, lose its point if it were hyphenated.

A sum followed by the word worth also needs a hyphen. Thus $25m-worth of goods.

3. SOME TITLES

vice-president, director-general, under-secretary, secretary-general, attorney-general, lieutenant-colonel, major-general, field-marshal

but

general secretary, deputy secretary, deputy director, district attorney

4. TO AVOID AMBIGUITIES

a little-used car
a little used-car
cross complaint
cross-complaint
high-school girl
high schoolgirl
fine-tooth comb (most people do not comb their teeth)
third-world war
third world war

5. AIRCRAFT

DC-10, Mirage F-1E, MiG-23, Lockheed P-3 Orion
(If in doubt, consult Jane's "All the World's Aircraft".)

6. ADJECTIVES FORMED FROM TWO OR MORE WORDS

right-wing groups (but the right wing of the party), balance-of-payments difficulties, private-sector wages, public-sector borrowing requirement, a 70-year-old judge, state-of-the-union message, value-added tax (VAT).

Adverbs do not need to be linked to participles or adjectives by hyphens in simple constructions: The regiment was ill equipped for its task; The principle is well established; Though expensively educated, the journalist knew no grammar. But if the adverb is one of two words together being used adjectivally, a hyphen may be needed: The ill-equipped regiment was soon repulsed; All well-established principles should be periodically challenged. The hyphen is especially likely to be needed if the adverb is short and common, such as ill, little, much and well. Less-common adverbs, including all those that end -ly, are less likely to need hyphens: Never employ an expensively educated journalist.

Do not overdo the literary device of hyphenating words that are not usually linked: the stringing-together-of-lots-and-lots-of-words-and-ideas tendency can be tiresome.

7. SEPARATING IDENTICAL LETTERS:

book-keeping (but bookseller), coat-tails, co-operate, unco-operative, pre-eminent, pre-empt (but predate, precondition), re-emerge, re-entry (but rearm, rearrange, reborn, repurchase), trans-ship. Exceptions include override, overrule, underrate, withhold.

8. NOUNS FORMED FROM PREPOSITIONAL VERBS:

bail-out, build-up, call-up, get-together, lay-off, pay-off, round-up, set-up, shake-up, etc.

9. THE QUARTERS OF THE COMPASS:

north-east(ern), south-east(ern), south-west(ern), north-west(ern), the mid-west(ern).

10. HYBRID ETHNICS:

Greek-Cypriot, Irish-American, etc, whether noun or adjective.

Words gathered together in quotation marks to serve as adjectives do not usually need hyphens as well: the "Live Free or Die" state.

----------------

A general rule for makers: if the prefix is of one or two syllables, attach it without a hyphen to form a single word, but if the prefix is of three or more syllables, introduce a hyphen. So carmaker, chipmaker, peacemaker, marketmaker, troublemaker, but candlestick-maker, holiday-maker, tiramisu-maker, antimacassar-maker. Policymaker (one word) is an exception.

With other words ending -er that are similar to maker (builder, dealer, driver, grower, owner, player, runner, seeker, trafficker, worker, etc) the general rule should be to insert a hyphen. But some prefixes, especially those of one syllable, can be used to form single words (coalminer, foxhunter, householder, landowner, metalworker, muckraker, nitpicker, shipbroker, steeplechaser), and some combinations will be better left as two words (insurance broker, crossword compiler, tuba player).

ONE WORD:
airfield
airspace
airtime
antibiotic
anticlimax
antidoteantiseptic
antitrust
bedfellow
bestselling
bilingual
blackboard
blueprint
bookmaker
businessman
bypass
carmaker
cashflow
ceasefire
chipmaker
clockmaker
coalminer
coastguard
codebreaker
comeback
commonsense (adj)
cyberspace
dotcom
fallout
farmworker
figleaf
foothold
forever (adv, when it precedes the verb)
foxhunter (-ing)
goodwill
halfhearted
handout
handpicked
hardline
headache
hijack
hobnob
kowtow
lacklustre
landmine
landowner
laptop
loophole
lopsided
lukewarm
machinegun
marketmaker (-ing)
metalworker
minefield
multilingual
nationwide
nevertheless
nitpicker (-ing)
nonetheless
offline
offshore
oilfield
online
onshore
overpaid
overrated
override
overrule
overrun
payout
peacekeepers (-ing)
peacemaker (-ing)
peacetime
petrochemical
placename
policymakers(-ing), but foreign-policy makers (-ing)
profitmaking
rainforest
roadblock
rustbelt
salesforce
seabed
shipbroker (-ing)
shipbuilder (-ing)
shipowner
shortlist
shutdown
soyabean
spillover
statewide
steelmaker (-ing)
steelworker (-ing)
stockmarket
streetwalker
strongman
subcommittee
subcontinent
subcontract
subhuman
submachinegun
sunbelt
takeover
threshold
timetable
transatlantic
transpacific
troublemaker (-ing)
turnout
underdog
underpaid
underrated
videodisc
videocassette
wartime
website
windfall
workforce
worldwide
worthwhile

TWO WORDS:
ad hoc (always)
air base
air force
arm's length
any more
ballot box
birth rate
car maker
child care (noun)
common sense (noun)
dog owner
errand boy
for ever (when used after a verb)
girl friend
health care (noun)
Land Rover
no one
on to
some day
under way
vice versa

TWO HYPHENATED WORDS:
agri-business
aid-worker
aircraft-carrier
asylum-seekers
bail-out
bell-ringer
build-up
buy-out
call-up (noun)
catch-phrase
copper-miner
death-squads
drawing-board
drug-dealer (-ing)
drug-trafficker (-ing)
end-game
end-year
faint-hearted
field-worker
front-line
front-runner
fund-raiser (-ing)
get-together (noun)
gun owner
gun-runner
hand-held
health-care (adj)
heir-apparent
hot-head
ice-cream
infra-red
inter-governmental
interest-group
joint-venture
kerb-crawler
know-how
lay-off (noun)
like-minded
long-standing
machine-tool
mid-week, mid-August, etc
mill-owner
nation-building
nation-state
news-stand
pay-off (noun)
post-war
pot-hole
pressure-group
pre-war
pull-out (noun, not verb)
question-mark
rain-check
re-create (meaning create again)
re-present (meaning present again)
re-sort (meaning sort again)
round-up (noun)
set-up (noun)
shake-out (noun)
stand-off
starting-point
start-ups
sticking-point
stumbling-block
talking-shop
task-force
tear-gas
think-tank
time-bomb
truck-driver
turning-point
vote-winner
working-party

THREE WORDS:
ad hoc agreement (meeting, etc)
armoured personnel carrier
chiefs of staff
half a dozen
in as much
in so far
multiple rocket launcher
nuclear power station
third world war (if things get bad)

THREE HYPHENATED WORDS:
A-turned-B (thief-turned-journalist)
brother-in-law
chock-a-block
commander-in-chief
no-man's-land
prisoners-of-war
second-in-command

Avoid from 1947-50 (say in 1947-50 or from 1947 to 1950) and between 1961-65 (say in 1961-65, between 1961 and 1965 or from 1961 to 1965).

âIf you take hyphens seriously, you will surely go madâ (Oxford University Press style manual).

Subjunctive

Guest — Mon, 14 Jun 2004 02:06:39 GMT

I know how to use the subjunctive well, I would say, by most peoples' standards. However, I am at a loss when I encounter this particular phrase: "I didn't think she was going." Does the "I didn't think" trigger the subjunctive? Should it read, "I didn't think she were going" ? I know in the Romance languages the subjunctive is appropriate here. Thanks for your help,

Bill

Past Participles and Present Participles used as adjectives

Guest — Fri, 28 May 2004 04:42:25 GMT

I would like to know the difference between the adjectives ending in -ed and -ing.

Use of the apostrophe

Guest — Fri, 27 Jun 2003 18:59:14 GMT

When trying to show possession in regard to a family owned business, would it be proper to display "Harpers' Bar" or "Harper's Bar". What is the difference between the two?