By Verbs, Word order

Peaceblinkfriend wrote:Thank you for explaining the differences between them to me. Thank you for explaining to me the differences between them. Hi PBFBoth sentences are correct. It may be safer for you to use the word order of the first example because you can't normally take many liberties...

Hi ForbesThank you for your long reply. I do appreciate it. I would just like to say that I my opinion is based on the knowledge I have of the Germanic and Romance languages and it is of course very subjective. I fully understand that not everyone agrees with me and what I consider easy may be...

Hi Cool Breeze I thought that might be what you were getting at. I think it is a mistake to equate complexity solely with the degree of inflectional morphology of a language. I have never studied Finnish, but I would be willing to bet that at least one of the following is true: 1. that a...

I think YL's suggestion is good. And don't neglect this possibility: Can you tell me the last time you saw him? As for the word order of an indirect question with heavy clauses, you can be flexible. You don't need to strand the verb way at the end if it sounds very awkward. Your case b...

are sought = are looked for. You look for an apartment or job. = You seek an apartment or job. (Not seek for.) I would have said ... are sought with complete secrecy .... It means People a great many processes depending on such research with complete secrecy ... ________ offering...

a. I don't know what they're getting at with this one. It should be because of his poetry. Or maybe booed by his students of poetry, which is some kind of word order problem, but check your textbook for the specifics. Maybe someone else can help. b. Possibly that adjuncts like "with pie...

I think you have got your terms mixed up, Anon. Separating a subject from its verb is in no way exceptional in English, as Clive has already shown you. What I think you mean is separating a verb from its object, which does happen in some cases but is often objectionable. In English one should...

1. Your explanation was correct. You might have added that that begins a relative clause in the sentence and is the subject of the clause. There is not what some grammarians call a preparatory there in the clause.2. Inverted word order, in other words finite verb before subject, is quite a common...

Maple wrote:But this one seems correct: Not far from there stood Edgar Snow, the famous American author.Hi MapleYou are right. However, note that just the word order is inverted and the usual grammatical interrogative structure is not used.Cf.Not only did he stand on a chair, he also looked...

Hi again, Do you agree: Who is your favourite rock band?This question asks for a subject. Rolling Stones(=Subject) is my favourite rock band.In such a case, when forming a double question, the word order goes two possible ways: It's not a double question. 'Could you tell me . . .' forms the...