In Expressions^x, Auxiliaries^x, Grammar^x

Hi, As GG already metioned, it's not exactly accurate to call it a grammar error. In your answer,have you considerd including a comment that some expressions seem correct but are simply not idiomatic? Best wishes, Clive

Hi Carissa, Welcome to the forum, I have never seen or heard anyone who would use ‘in behalf” in any context. The expression is always “on behalf”, meaning representing. On behalf of my family, I would like to take this time to thank everyone for coming. As to the auxiliary...

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...

Alienvoord, I appreciate you're constructive criticism. Allow me to rebute: 1) Comprehensible, yes. But many expressions are comprehensible even without being gramatically sound. The nuances I try to reveal in this post are to help you write better gramatically, not to sound or to write...

CalifJim wrote: Welcome to English Forums! This is the going to of motion, not the going to of the future. Here are sentences which use both: I am going to go shopping. ( going of the future; go of motion) I am going to be going now. ( going of the future; going of motion)...

Soylista wrote: I am confused with this expression, " will be going to + Vb ". eg. I will be going to visit Aunt Carol tomorrow. To me, this expression is sort of redundant. Why do you need to use both "will" and "be+going to"? I somewhat understand the differences between future meaning...

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...

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....

One reference -- Paul Roberts' Understanding Grammar -- says need has become a sometimes modal auxiliary, while have to, be able to, and be used to are "equivalents of modal auxiliaries." Need was not originally a modal auxiliary, but it has been drawn into the group because of its meaning,...

Hello meg2589 and all, I almost exclusively teach Spanish students, with the exception of some American students who are learning Spanish but this is a different story. I can tell you the most common mistakes and difficulties that we, Spanish people, find when studying English. The first...