By Idioms, Grammar

Simi wrote:Hi, I have a couple of doubts: 1. "I've been meaning to tell you". Why has it ("meaning to") been used this way? Can someone explain me how can i use it more often, in general? I have been intending to ...I have been intending to/meaning to go shoppingI have been intending...

Hi Doll Sometimes the easiest way to deal with some of these remnants of older forms is simply to treat the expressions as "idioms". For example, another remnant is the expression "Be that as it may". Most native speakers would be at a complete loss to explain the grammar of that to you. Most...

1. <<3. that the inflectional morphology, though complex, is regular Correct again. Someone has said that there are ten rules in English grammar and 10,000 exceptions and 10,000 rules in Finnish grammar and ten exceptions. That's not quite true, though."...

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, I totally understand the idiom now. Thank you both Grammar Geek and Clive for your clear explanation.

Believe you me is a one-of-a-kind expression. Think of it as an idiom without trying to figure out the grammar. It's the only expression in English (as far as I know) that uses this structure. It means You can truly believe me. You should really believe me. I am telling you this in...

Grammar Geek wrote:To be burried at sea is a fixed idiom. The point isn't that you get dumped into the sea, but that the ship goes out to sea, you are AT sea, and your body slips into the water. I love you, GG! Especially when you come up with things like the difference between "dumped" and...

Hoey's extension: I would suggest that to know a word such as consequence is, at the very least, to know the answers to the following nine questions about the word: 1 What does consequence mean? (meaning) 2 How is consequence used grammatically? (grammar) 3 How is...

Thanks GG. Grammar Geek wrote:3) Look how many people! Yes you have the meaning correct, but don't separate the "look" from the rest.Actually, it was supposed to be separate. I meant, "Wow, how many people!" should not be ok, right? Should it be "Wow, what a lot of people!" instead?

Hmm, very interesting.I see you like "For who?" instead, so I think "What for?" is just idiomatic (note: yes, just checked, my dictionary lists "what for" as an idiom, so the construction has nothing to do with grammar).So, if you used it in a context where the idiom was not used, would you swap...