Dew, I think there are militarists in the USA and also in Russia, and I think there have been provocations on both sides. But what is a "provocation", exactly? The USA made the "mother of all bombs", and so Russia recently made the "dad of all

Anonymous, 1. The USA is not a democracy. It is a constitutional republic. Sadly, I think less than 20% of Americans know the difference between the two forms of government. The founding fathers of our country hated democracy and I agree with

I disagree with Clive, as I think "a 16 inch boy's bike" sounds more natural than "a boy's 16 inch bike". I don't think it's confusing because, honestly, how many boys are there in the world who are 16 inches tall?

Nona, I'm with you. I also love basements, as do many American men. It gives them the feeling of retreating into their manly "cave" where everything is dark and masculine, and where the comfy couch and the big television are. If I may fill you in

"To manifest" is usually used reflexively, and it means "to make (itself) known". For instance: "The disease manifested itself when the patient was only four years old." The usage of "to manifest" here implies that the disease was already present

That is interesting! I don't think I've ever heard someone described as "clever, but not intelligent", which seems contradictory to me. It seems there are indeed shades of meaning in UK English among these three words that do not exist in USA

I don't think either is erroneous. #1 is definitely more direct. Whether or not that is better depends on the situation. Sometimes directness is appreciated, sometimes not.

These endings come very natural to me as a native English speaker, but they must be hell for those who are learning English. I spit out "...haven't they?", "...aren't we"?, "...doesn't he?" effortlessly. In the sentence you provide: "This is them,

The second sounds correct, and I am sure English speakers make that mistake all the time. "Of your dreams" is a preopositional clause modifying "any", which is the subject of the sentence and is singular. Therefore: "Has any of your dreams come

You're using exclamation points to try to approximate the forcefulness used in someone's voice, and that is subjective. That said, "Help! Please." does not sound natural. Why would someone yell "Help!" then say, "Please."? So I think that either,