It may seem like we have a team of dead horses here. We can apply a lot of virtuous adjectives to the process of preparing for an exam. You must be diligent / persevering / thorough in preparing for the exam. (Perhaps you're normally a lazy,

Thanks, Khoff! In passing, could you tell me if there's any significant difference between "take lodging" and "take up lodging" ?

Hi, Pernickety. I hate beating dead horses, but a revisit to this clause tells me I didn't explain myself. The problem is the nature of the verb "to prepare." In your example, it describes what may well be a long

2. They are always asking me how studious a student should be to prepare for the finals Hi, Pernickety. I hate beating dead horses, but a revisit to this clause tells me I didn't explain myself. The problem is the nature of the verb "to

No, I would say it's not very common. I would never say someone "took lodging" with their parents -- it suggests that the parents run a boarding house and the son is paying rent. Just say "He moved back in with his

Hi, Is it common practice on US soil to use "take lodging" as a substitute for "take up residence"? For instance, do you find the following sentences odd in any way? 1. He took lodging in his parents' house

Thanks, Avangi. I see your point now.

I remember the day that he came. We aren’t going for the simple reason that we can’t afford it. Why do you think "that" might be an adverb in those two sentences, Debpriya De? The word "that" is very often used as a relative

According to the strict rules, if you have two complete sentences joined by the "and" you use the comma. So, your should NOT have the comma, the second should, the third should not, and the fourth should. In practice, if the two

Anyway, my take away from reading about verb tense in novels and from talking with Seth Harwood is that some people think writing in the present tense is modern and other people think it is trendy and annoying. Is take away an idiom? I