In Nouns^x, Expressions^x

My own perspective on: Funny, peculiar, ill, sick. Funny is used in Britain in the sense of 'I feel a bit funny' or 'Are you alright, you look a bit funny?' It usually means someone is a bit faint, or dizzy or nauseous. Peculiar 'I feel a bit peculiar' might be used by someone about...

Actually, "nonsense" (as well as "wood", "knowledge", etc.) are all singular noncount nouns. Maybe the question should not be when to use "what" vs. "what a". Maybe it's just a matter of saying that, in this type of expression, "what" precedes whatever the usual indefinite noun phrase normally...

Thanks Mr Micawber and moutainhiker, the explanation is clear, I guess the attitude here is important. I was worried because english grammar books don't tell these things and I thought that I was committing a violation of some rule, cause I never see o hear ex like these: "I'm not goig to answer...

Anthony, It's possible that your internet friend did not mean "I suppose ... should " in the way described here, but what I describe below is one of the most common uses of that expression. In my opinion, whoever said "reluctantly conclude" just about hit the nail on the head. I'd go a small...

What do you have planned for today? That is a very common expression. You might see a friend and ask that question. Your boss might ask that question at the beginning of the day. "What" is a common way to begin a question. What time is it? What are you doing? What is wrong with the...

Pastel, The expression is "How does X function?", not "What does X function?" ______ The same thing occurred during the country's previous two cyclical recoveries, when increased government spending, tax cuts and exports provided the fuel for rallies that proved to be short-lived. The same...

Hello, English exhilaration This is how I'de rewrite your sentences, but I don't see anything wrong with most of the verbs in square brackets. The "mistakes" seem to be somewhere else in the sentences. 1. Ranjit may help himself to the beer in the fridge. "To" instead of "with". "To help...

I absolutely did not mean that, although what I said was very unclear. I was talking about the form Chinese being used as both an adjective and noun, thinking mistakenly that my other examples had different adjective and noun forms. But "American" is both (I am an American and I am American). ...

The expression I am trying to figure out is: "I don't recall your having said 'p'." Would it be grammatically correct to say this?

In my view, none of them is correct. Maybe other readers might have a different perspective, but to me, 'as... as...' is a fixed comparative expression and if you use the second "as," you also need the first: I am not as good a painter as she is. Technically, the "is" can be truncated off,...