In Expressions^x, Auxiliaries^x, Clauses^x

SHALL AND WILL IT is unfortunate that the idiomatic use, while it comes by nature to southern Englishmen (who will find most of this section superfluous), is so complicated that those who are not to the manner born can hardly acquire it; and for them the section is in danger of...

Kilimanjaro wrote: Hello Cool Breeze, This sentence is taken from Michael SWAN's Practical English Usage. He says "might" can be used in such contexts Hi Kilimanjaro Yes, I know it's from that book. You mentioned it in a previous post. I didn't say it was right or wrong in my opinion. I...

Maybe, Your sentence is formal or literature type. I think auxiliary + subject has to be used after expressions contain " only " . If you delete " did ", The sentence will be like, Only after she died, I realized that she was actually a nice person. ( is this sentence ok ?)...

The auxiliary "do" is used in questions, negatives, emphatic expressions, and tags. You liked her. Did you like her? You didn't like her. Didn't you like her? You did like her. You liked her, didn't you? You did like her, didn't you? As for emphatics, they frequently occur in the...

Mary Ansell has a chapter on the subjunctive mood at http://www.fortunecity.com/bally/durrus/153/gramch09.html. One of the complications in using the subjunctive is the fact that, besides hypothetical condition clauses, which require the subjunctive, there are factual condition clauses that do...

Congratualtions for your explanations. There are clear and the best i've found. Vos explicatons sont les plus pédagogiques que j'ai pu trouver à ce jour et je tiens tout particulièrement à vous en rendre hommage. Gérard. Forum: New: Common English Questions and Answers - Archived Posts...

Mary Ansell's on-line text, English Grammar: Explanations and Exercises , explains some of the differences among these auxiliaries: 3. Can and Could The modal auxiliary can is most often used in the Simple conjugation. The most important meaning of can and could is to be able to....

TO QUOTE CALIFORNIA JIM: 'There is more than one difference between the simple past and the present perfect. The simplest difference is the grammatical difference that the simple past can be used with expressions which signify a definite, particular time in the past. I wrote a letter...

There is more than one difference between the simple past and the present perfect. The simplest difference is the grammatical difference that the simple past can be used with expressions which signify a definite, particular time in the past. I wrote a letter yesterday. I wrote a letter at 7...