By Pronouns, Constructions

Usually, but is regarded as a preposition but sometimes it is used as a conjunction. Rules say that when a preposition word is not followed by an object rather by a pronoun/noun and a verb, the preposition word acts as a conjunction. Consider the following example;I took the exam but didn't pass...

If it is commonly used by native writers and speakers, that seems a good enough reason for calling it standard. Meaning is derived from consensus, after all. However there is a difference between how native speakers use their language, and how some people think they should use their language....

You can start by reading THIS and THIS and THIS.Here also are a few quotes from online poetry or literary reviews: "The sole reservation I find myself harbouring with Alan Seeger's sonnets (especially the first series) is this: Seeger, who is after all a Twentieth Century poet, too often...

Grammarian-bot wrote: Well thats exactly my question. How would one know when a word like by is used as an adverb and when it's used as a preposition in a phrasal verb? GB Well that is what is the problem in the given example. The rule of thumb for phrasal verbs is if you have an...

Hello CJ CalifJim wrote: In what I must do, you might think of it as that thing which I must do or that which I must do. Maybe it will help. (Maybe it won't! Think of it that way if it helps.) The what in this structure is called a fused relative (pronoun) because the meanings of that and...

They are insisting he go/goes to Athens. It is advisable that he spend (not spends) the summer holidays with you.As a footnote: in British English, the present subjunctive is much less common than the indicative in such structures; though curiously, in the last 10 to 20 years, it has become...

Anonymous wrote: 1.Combine each set of simple sentences below to produce the kind of sentence specified in parentheses. 1) People begin to recycle. They generate much less trash. (Complex.) <No idea, but TIP: Using subordinating conjunctions!> 2) Environmentalists have...

Believer wrote: Thank you. Here in this sentence, what do you call the word 'their' grammatically? This will prevent their ever going to heaven. We feel the necessity for a possessive form more particularly when the gerund is the subject of the main verb : Your calling on us just at...

Grammar Geek wrote:What's wrong with the construction "This is my home, where I feel the most comfortable."? I don't agree that you can't use a comma. Hi Grammar GeekNothing is wrong with your construction. I am discussing another sentence with a relative pronoun in it: This is the factory...

Hello English teacher in Australia, I'm happy to respond to your post. It was quite clear from your initial post that you objected to "that" being the correct answer to the original question. You also denied the grammatical validity of two other like examples where "that' is used as a...