In Present tenses^x, Grammar^x, Expressions^x

Grammar Geek wrote:What is the context for It's 10 minutes' meeting or It's a 10 minutes' meeting? Those don't sound normal at all! So I'm missing something. It's a meeting of 10 minutes sounds grammatical, but not natural. But my mind doesn't rebel against it like the two above. Hi GGI was...

Let's spread out the issue a little bit: ____ O ____ Type 2. Basic forms. a. If we caught the 10 o'clock train, we would (could, might, etc.) get there by lunch-time. b. If I came into a fortune, I would give up smoking. c. If I knew how it worked, I could tell...

Learn commonly used phrases thoroughly -- phrases of three to six words. Practice the pronunciation over and over until the whole phrase becomes automatic. Without constant repetition you can't ever become fluent. If the phrase is long or difficult, learn the end of the phrase first. ...

Clive wrote: Hi, Do you mean that the following could be correct semantically? 1. The meteorologist claimed that it will be fine tomorrow. Yes. I don't object to 'would', in fact I prefer it. But I wouldn't say that 'will' is wrong. I was just answering your question as to whether what you...

Hi, Do you mean that the following could be correct semantically? 1. The meteorologist claimed that it will be fine tomorrow. Yes. I don't object to 'would', in fact I prefer it. But I wouldn't say that 'will' is wrong. I was just answering your question as to whether what you wrote could be...

Grammar Geek wrote:I would agree with you Yoong Liat, if he the writer still does assume that. Perhaps he was talking about the assumptions he made when he began his spiritual journey? Grammar Geek As I have indicated, all the other verbs are in present tense, so I'm certain when the speaker...

high time Long overdue: It's high time that you started working. Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/grammar/archive/hightime01.html It's (high/about) time "It is high time...

Forbes wrote: I think you misunderstand what I am trying to get at it. If you are teaching someone Thai and you say "Thai nouns have no plural" you may give the impression that Thai has no means of expressing number, which is not the case. I agree that many students of...

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...

Hi everyone!! I've got a problem. My grammar book would say "They are looking at me as if I were mad". I know I could use like instead of as if in informal situations, and I could also use was instead of were (informal again), but I'm confused about present tense usage where you should use the...