In Verbs^x, American English^x

I've posted this in another thread: would + base form of verb = simple conditional (would go) would + have + past participle = perfect conditional (would have gone) Both are usually seen in conditional sentences Types II and III. Type II: "If it started to rain now, I would stay at home." Type...

Your assessment for #1 seems pretty bang on, I'm not sure about the British English part as I'm Canadian but I imagine it's the same. For #2, to have actually does mean to possess, just not in terms of possessing something physical. I haven't got any or I don't have any are both good options,...

Miriam, Some irony about Websters or American corporate ownership? Subtle. Here’s something from the Brits good survives as an adverb only in non-standard American English, e.g.: I'm looking after the place good—Maurice Gee, 1994. The use in feel good (which is current in BrE and AmE) is...

Yes, you are right - this is a matter of British and American English: In American English, the forms usually are: get (infinitive) got (past tense) gotten (past participle) while in British they are: get (infinitive) got (past tense) got (past participle) The "inappropriate" use you are...

We use "think" in the past simple or past perfect tense to indicate a belief that was previously held but that has been shown to be incorrect. For example: I didn't think she was going. (past simple) I had thought that she wasn't going. (past perfect) The exception is in converting from direct...

The distinction between "who" and "whom" has significantly eroded in American English. But if you really want to know, the following are correct: Whom shall I say is calling? Whom did you talk to? "Whom" is used when it is the object of the verb. In an interrogative sentence, identifying the...

The first thing to note is the spelling: the correct spelling is a-c-c-u-s-a-t-i-v-e. Another thing to note is that the term often employed to identify the "case" of words like "him", "her" and "whom" is Objective, rather than Accusative (which is misleading in a simplified grammar like...

"The door was wide open" sounds right to my ears but I do not know if it is correct. I have been corrupted by a lifetime of input from American English speakers. I just grabbed this from the Microsoft Bookshelf CD-ROM dictionary: wide-open (wìd´o´pen) adjective 1. Completely open: a wide-open...

Here is some advice on the use of got and gotten. Got is the past tense and past participle of get. You use have got to say that someone has a particular thing, or to mention a quality or characteristic that someone or something has. I’ve got a coat just like this. She hasn’t got a work...

When we talk about comparison between people, things or actions, we can use "as" or "like", depending on the structure. "Like" is a preposition which should be followed by a noun or a pronoun. Example: I'm not _like_ my brother. "As" is a conjunction which should be followed by a clause...