Infinity wrote: Thanks again, Ranchhand. RH: Again, my pleasure. Infinity: Actually I’d realized the inconsistency and edited it before your post. RH: Perfect use of the past perfect

What possible difference could it make? These are the nuances that are lost on those who speak BrE. Such is the nature of dialectal use. BrEers similarly aren't fluent in the use of 'gotten'. NaEers can't grasp the nuances of some BrE uses unless

Thank you very much ranchhand! I have one more question. RH: You're very welcome, Infinity. Ask ...
decided to take a day off {yesterday ???}.” ? RanchHand: Notice the brackets I've place around

Yes, that's what I suspect. Then : "Down the throttle"? =============== RH: Better, and figuratively speaking, of course, "This summer, let's ease up on that throttle" OR "Throttle back on energy use" ++++++++++++++++++++ Now

Workers at central government ministries in Japan will not be wearing jackets and ties this summer under a campaign to save energy... They call it 'Cool Biz Campaign'. I think the idea is good, but the phrase is one of the worst Japlish. Could

I would say 'an hour-and-a-half('s)' (with or without hyphens) RH: I've never ever heard anyone say, "An hour hyphen and hyphen a hyphen half", Mr M.

I agree with Goldmund but let me also suggest that the words collocated with the year influence how we say it. If we use, "In the year", I'd say we often {sometimes??} use, In the year ten oh three; in the year fourteen forty three; in

. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RanchHand: You have to be very careful about when the sentence is spoken. The crucial words "for the last

today. RanchHand: #1 is fine, but in #2 the 'had' doesn't work. The meaning of "have+PP" means ...
to say, 3. I have been busy lately, so I decided to take a day off tomorrow. RanchHand

somehow similar to the way we learn mathematics. RanchHand: This is simply not the case, Paco ...
function and what word is connected to what word. RanchHand: This is one of the major reasons why