By Articles, Idioms

Hello Komountain and Paco I'm more than happy to continue this discussion! I too want to clear up the doubts. So please don't be concerned - it's no trouble at all. I hope you don't mind if I answer both your posts at once. Fowler's article in 'Modern Usage' on the gerund gives this example,...

This one almost requires one to live in the U.S. and to have watched TV coverage of the November 2 presidential election. The map of the U.S. is divided into states. As each state's votes were counted, the state was colored red if the Republicans had won there and colored blue if the Democrats...

Hello Andrei The definite article is usually omitted when naming teams, so you would rewrite your sentences like this: 'Team A is a much better side than team B.' 'However, team B beat team A in the finals.' (Or 'final', depending on the sport.) 'Petrified' is probably too strong for your...

In many towns, as you drive into town, the first thing you must pass through is the section of fast-food restaurants, called "Miracle Mile" in this article. This is your "introduction" to the town. So it means "introduce the visitor (by car) to the town". "one X from the next" or "more Z than...

The reason why I choose Hence, you can post in the most appropriate area and have someone see and respond to your post. With the posts properly segmented, you and other don't need to waste time searching. I believe it is difficult to evaluate a web site by its appearance. Personally, I would...

this is a piece of paper about English Teaching & Learning via Internet I am not sure all the sentences are right, if you find something wrong in the grammar, help me correct them.thank you very much The reason why I choose is that English Forums is the most useful website on the Internet in...

"a / an" does seem a bit strange with 90,000, doesn't it? There is no such thing as "a 90,000" or "a gangsters", of course! What you have come across is an idiom usually used with large numbers. The words "an estimated" are frequently used before a very large number or percentage to show that...

Yes, indeed. This is not the 'to' of an infinitive, it is a particle of the idiom 'look forward to', which takes a noun (in this case, the gerund 'hearing') as object. 'I look forward to our next dinner meeting.' 'And I look forward to seeing you there.'

First of all, let me point out a slight exception to my earlier answer. Sometimes in casual English the noun may be left out if it's obvious from the context. For instance, if we work in a shop and I say to you, "That guy is a regular." In that case regular=regular customer. Occasionally the...

hey no doubt idoms sound stylish, but i think you should do some reserach on where exactly to use them and where not, for eg. in my early days i used a few of them in some letters and my teacher was mad at me, but at times they do add spice to your articles. btw any good site suggestions for...