Search results for 'tag:Nouns tag:Idioms' matching tags 'Nouns' and 'Idioms'

Re: Down

Mister Micawber — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:08:09 GMT

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To vast a question, d_say-- and the sentences are already in English!

DOWN:

âadverb

1.	from higher to lower; in descending direction or order; toward, into, or in a lower position: to come down the ladder.

2.	on or to the ground, floor, or bottom: He fell down.

3.	to or in a sitting or lying position.

4.	to or in a position, area, or district considered lower, esp. from a geographical or cartographic standpoint, as to the south, a business district, etc.: We drove from San Francisco down to Los Angeles.

5.	to or at a lower value or rate.

6.	to a lesser pitch or volume: Turn down the radio.

7.	in or to a calmer, less active, or less prominent state: The wind died down.

8.	from an earlier to a later time: from the 17th century down to the present.

9.	from a greater to a lesser strength, amount, etc.: to water down liquor.

10.	in an attitude of earnest application: to get down to work.

11.	on paper or in a book: Write down the address.

12.	in cash at the time of purchase; at once: We paid $50 down and $20 a month.

13.	to the point of defeat, submission, inactivity, etc.: They shouted down the opposition.

14.	in or into a fixed or supine position: They tied down the struggling animal.

15.	to the source or actual position: The dogs tracked down the bear.

16.	into a condition of ill health: He's come down with a cold.

17.	in or into a lower status or condition: kept down by lack of education.

18.	Nautical. toward the lee side, so as to turn a vessel to windward: Put the helm down!

19.	Slang. on toast (as used in ordering a sandwich at a lunch counter or restaurant): Give me a tuna down.

âpreposition

20.	in a descending or more remote direction or place on, over, or along: They ran off down the street.

âadjective

21.	downward; going or directed downward: the down escalator.

22.	being at a low position or on the ground, floor, or bottom.

23.	toward the south, a business district, etc.

24.	associated with or serving traffic, transportation, or the like, directed toward the south, a business district, etc.: the down platform.

25.	downcast; depressed; dejected: You seem very down today.

26.	ailing, esp., sick and bedridden: He's been down with a bad cold.

27.	being the portion of the full price, as of an article bought on the installment plan, that is paid at the time of purchase or delivery: a payment of $200 down.

28.	Football. (of the ball) not in play.

29.	behind an opponent or opponents in points, games, etc.: The team won the pennant despite having been down three games in the final week of play.

30.	Baseball. out.

31.	losing or having lost the amount indicated, esp. at gambling: After an hour at poker, he was down $10.

32.	having placed one's bet: Are you down for the fourth race?

33.	finished, done, considered, or taken care of: five down and one to go.

34.	out of order: The computer has been down all day.

ânoun

35.	a downward movement; descent.

36.	a turn for the worse; reverse: The business cycle experienced a sudden down.

37.

Football.

a.	one of a series of four plays during which a team must advance the ball at least 10 yd. (9 m) to keep possession of it.

b.	the declaring of the ball as down or out of play, or the play immediately preceding this.

38.	Slang. an order of toast at a lunch counter or restaurant.

39.	Slang. downer (defs. 1a, b).

âverb (used with object)

40.	to put, knock, or throw down; subdue: He downed his opponent in the third round.

41.	to drink down, esp. quickly or in one gulp: to down a tankard of ale.

42.	Informal. to defeat in a game or contest: The Mets downed the Dodgers in today's game.

43.	to cause to fall from a height, esp. by shooting: Antiaircraft guns downed ten bombers.

âverb (used without object)

44.	to go down; fall.

âinterjection

45.	(used as a command to a dog to stop attacking, to stop jumping on someone, to get off a couch or chair, etc.): Down, Rover!

46.	(used as a command or warning to duck, take cover, or the like): Down! They're starting to shoot!

âIdioms

47.	down and out, down-and-out.

48.	down cold or pat, mastered or learned perfectly: Another hour of studying and I'll have the math lesson down cold.

49.	down in the mouth, discouraged; depressed; sad.

50.	down on, Informal. hostile or averse to: Why are you so down on sports?

51.

down with!

a.	away with! cease!: Down with tyranny!

b.	on or toward the ground or into a lower position: Down with your rifles!

Re: Is sentence correct ?

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:16:36 GMT

No, it isn't an idiom, it is usually a noun phrase, as in "He made me an offer of $50 for the car"; "I made an offer of help, but she refused". Please don't be offended, but if you are learning English, writing "wanna" as a colloquial shorthand for "want to" is generally bad practice and should be avoided, in case you get into the habit and write it at the wrong time. You should never say it - although you will hear many native speakers breaking the rule. That's because they aren't as well educated as you are!

Re: stress

AlpheccaStars — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 02:04:10 GMT

Dear Learn:

They are not really compound words. True compound words are written without a hyphen. Examples are blackboard (black + board) and shipwreck (ship + wreck). The two words together may have a different meaning together than their individual words.

These hyphenated two-word combinations are usually found functioning as adjectives, and one (or more) of the words is normally a noun. They still have their individual meanings (such as glass-enclosed), and are pronounced as if they were separate words.

When a hypenated word becomes an idiom and takes on a different meaning, then it is on its way to becoming a compound word. (dog-eared for example.) You should find these in the dictionary, and there may be both the hyphenated and compound listings.

Re: Long-winded question on the use of a variable noun

samuraifingers — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:18:45 GMT

WOW -

Firstly - put down the thesaurus and stop trying to sound smart! Just be yourself!

When writing in ANY language it is ALWAYS best to be simple, crisp, clean and concise!

Honestly - I got lost halfway through your rambling.

So far as I can tell, you want to know whether or not "food" and "pizza" are countable, or uncountable nouns.
The answer is YES to BOTH!

What food do you hate? OK
(technically food is uncountable, so you need a counter for it - it this case "kinds")
What kinds of food do you hate? OK
BUT You may also hear in spoken English -
What foods do you hate? (o.k. too!)

Pizza - same rules.

AND of course pizza and food are un-idiomatic, because they are NOT IDIOMS! They simple nouns!

Example of an idiom - "to be floored". (means - to be shocked, amazed, or astounded by a situation or gift etc)
EX- I was given a new car for my 16th Birthday, I was floored!

Cheers,
and good luck!

Nick

Re: "calim your own at any hazard!"

Mister Micawber — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:58:42 GMT

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Yes, I think the same meaning, but an idiom-- perhaps one that is no longer in use or that was composed under poetic license. Here are some other idioms with 'own' as a noun:

come into one's own,

a.	to take possession of that which is due or owed one.

b.	to receive the recognition that one's abilities merit: She finally came into her own as a sculptor of the first magnitude.

8.	get one's own back, to get revenge and thereby a sense of personal satisfaction, as for a slight or a previous setback; get even with somebody or something: He saw the award as a way of getting his own back for all the snubs by his colleagues.

hold one's own,

a.	to maintain one's position or condition: The stock market seems to be holding its own these days.

b.	to be equal to the opposition: He can hold his own in any fight.

10.	of one's own, belonging to oneself: She had never had a room of her own.

11.

on one's own,

a.	by dint of one's own efforts, resources, or sense of responsibility; independently: Because she spoke the language, she got around the country very well on her own.

b.	living or functioning without dependence on others; independent: My son's been on his own for several years.

Re: Two infinitives

richard_s — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:21:34 GMT

In that case, the quote is probably:

To quit in space is the same as to quit in the corridor. Â

As Clive points out, you need the asÂ in the sentence (always write the same as)Â

The infinitives can be used instead of the gerunds to give it more of a sense of 'if you do it', other than that, as Clive says, in ordinary speech we would usually use the gerund (~ing) form.

As for articles, you are right; they are very difficult to learn. Â The good news is that they are not terribly important for making yourself understood. Â If you miss a few articles, or put them incorrectly, most native speakers can understand what you mean. Â On the other hand, if you omit a subject in a clause or omit the verb, or use the wrong form of the verb, it can be really hard for a native speaker to understand.

A lot of students find the following process useful for understanding articles:

1. Identify the noun

2. decide if the noun is countable or non-count.

3.1 If it is countable, decide if it is singular or plural.

3.1.1 If it is singular, you need to decide if it is general or specific

3.1.1.1 If is is general, use a or an

3.1.1.2 if it is specific, use the

3.1.2 If it is plural, you need to decide if it is general or specific

3.1.2.1 If is isÂ general, don't use an article

3.1.2.2 if it isÂ specific, useÂ the

3.2 If it is non-count, decide if it is general or specific

3.2.1 if it is general, don't use an article

3.2.2 if it is specific, use the

If you follow that process, it will make it easier to decide if an article is needed or not; then you only need to worry about exceptions, idioms, and all of the extra tiny rules.

In your case above, spaceÂ is general and non-count.

Re: "any"-defining

Fandorin — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:18:36 GMT

Kooyeen

You can do that too, but it is not common, it's only used sometimes for emphasis. It's easy to build odd sentences that way, so I personally prefer to avoid using it that way, as a learner. When talking about one thing, using the article "a" (or "an") is the common way to say it...
Do you have a sister? Is there a hospital near here? I don't have a sister, you must be mistaking me for someone else...

I didn't consider uncountable nouns because they are not usually used in the plural, so they weren't part of our problem. I didn't consider idioms or exceptions either... I can think of a couple of them right now:
Is there any reason why you are not allowed to do that?
There isn't any way to find out the truth, I'm afraid.

The singular seems to be the idiomatic choice in those cases.

Yes, it's odd way not to use "a". Indeed, "any=some" implies itself plural noun to be used. So the difference in translation some of constructions in English seems to be slightly smoothed between two meanings you mentioned above. At least it's so in my language.

Re: "any"-defining

Kooyeen — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:23:38 GMT

Fandorin
There is no way to use "any" with singular in that meaning. Don't you think?

You can do that too, but it is not common, it's only used sometimes for emphasis. It's easy to build odd sentences that way, so I personally prefer to avoid using it that way, as a learner. When talking about one thing, using the article "a" (or "an") is the common way to say it...
Do you have a sister? Is there a hospital near here? I don't have a sister, you must be mistaking me for someone else...

I didn't consider uncountable nouns because they are not usually used in the plural, so they weren't part of our problem. I didn't consider idioms or exceptions either... I can think of a couple of them right now:
Is there any reason why you are not allowed to do that?
There isn't any way to find out the truth, I'm afraid.

The singular seems to be the idiomatic choice in those cases.

Re: questions in english

CalifJim — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 19:07:49 GMT

Anonymous
For example why I say 'Are you a teacher?' and 'Do you teach?'...

1. Use a form of be if a noun or adjective follows the subject you.

Are you a teacher? Are you tired? Were you the leader of the group? Why were you late?

2. Use a form of be if a verb with -ing follows the subject you.

Are you studying English? What were you reading?

3. Use a form of do if the base form of the verb follows the subject you.

Where do you live? What did you eat? Do you like to dance?

_____

born is a special case. It is the past participle of the verb to bear. The idiom is "to be born".

Past participles can often be treated the same as adjectives (See 1. above.) Here are some examples with past participles.

Where were you born? When were you seen? Why are you always invited to those parties?

Re: Conditional:Auxiliary Commentary Words?

Mister Micawber — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 03:44:18 GMT

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Thank you. So if the word is specifically referenced to by context, we should use the definite article to indicate specifcity of it like you did with the noun 'power'. Is that right?-- Yes

You wrote this as an introducing part (if that is phrased right) to the examples:
I think they are unaffected, but I think also that the 'would's are incorrect:

I have hard time finding out how to pluralize words like"'would" or 'how are you?"You seemed to have attach an 's' after putting the word "would" in the quotation marks. Is it how it should be done? --Yes. I used single quote marks; double marks are more formally correct.

How about this? I think they are unaffected, but I think also that the "would's" are incorrect-- No

How about these?

I think that the '"do's and don'ts" are inappropriate to the situation.-- Yes. Do's and don'ts is an idiom. (Notice that for clarity we do not use a second apostrophe in "don't's")
I think that the "good morning's" are inappropriate.-- No
I think his "how are you's" are inappropriate. -- No. His "how are you"s are inappropriate. I don't think we need the "?".