The scenery must be in the surroundings, and one can't do much with scenery other than see it or look at it, so I think you are in danger of pleonasm here, Vincent. I'd say: i. They were suprised at the scenery . ii. They were surprised to

Yes, I quite agree. It's certainly not diplomatic and the letter might well get you the sack, but if you wanted to disassociate yourself from the letter - unlikely in these circumstances, I think - this is how you'd do it.

I've never heard this expression. There is a football club of a sort in Liverpool and I think this might be referring to it. I think it probably means 'to keep faith with' or 'out of loyalty to', both of which are much more

In those two cases thought is quite normal to suggest that the estimation of the singing took place at the time the song was being sung. What I didn't find idiomatic in the other judge's comment was the use of the present perfect: I

I think a little depends on relations in the workplace. A director could order me to do something, in my view, but if I were to use that form of words to a third party, that suggests reluctance on my part to comply with the order. Requesting or

Hello Velimir, Grammar buffs will tell you that there are occasions where the two are not interchangeable. The one I remember particularly is where you are describing an incident. The fire was raging but I couldn't open the door . Some people

I must say I see it a different way: I just might is probably weaker than I might . I might just by itself is the strongest of the three, in my experience. Why don't you go and tell him what you think of him? I might just! - suggests you

They both mean that he has spent the evenings watching TV this week. The first (has been watching) puts more emphasis on the time it must have taken and is slightly more pejorative in tone. The second (has watched) puts emphasis on the fact, and,

I think the point is that an 'absolute' construction modifies the whole sentence, whereas a participle construction modifies the subject. Thus: Dinner being ready, we all went downstairs - Absolute construction (we didn't necessarily

It has been raining (it is still raining ) It might be worth adding, Tuongvan, that it has been raining (no time given) doesn't mean it is still raining. Rather it suggests that it has stopped. You go outside, you see everything is wet, you