In your sentence, there is still ellipsis is both endings A and B. The complete ending is "...they originally seemed to cost." Seem is a linking verb, but one with some idiosyncracies. The following is from the American Heritage Dictionary . Seem

It sounds a bit unusual, but ordinally is a legitimate adverb. Ordinally which president was Lincoln? Or: which president was Lincoln in order/in sequence?

I would add a footnote. Makes means compels . Then: absence compels the heart to grow fonder . The heart is in the objective case, as can be seen if a personal pronoun is substituted: absence compels him to grow fonder . But him is still

I'm not sure exactly what it is that you are asking. They all can be adjectives or adverbs. First and last also have noun meanings. Last may also be a verb. Only may also be a conjunction or a preposition. Next may also be a preposition. But with

In the last sentence, I think kind works. Were these the kind of schools that do function well with other institutions? I think an initial occurance of schools is understood: Were these the kind of schools that do function well with other

This is two questions. First, can lead be used as an adjective? Yes. Webster's Third New International Dictionary has: lead adj. 1: acting as a leader : going in front : LEADING, LEAD-OFF <the lead mule> <now it was the lead cruiser's

Some years ago, I got A Concise Dictionary of Confusables , by B. A. Phythian. Tortuous and torturous are in there. If one were the object of tortuous/torturous treatment, the pronunciation would matter.

Hi Feathers:-) Mistaken is one of those participles that has become an adjective in its own right, with its own dictionary entry. I am blue. I am mistaken.

"As a permission auxiliary, may is more formal and less common than can, which (except in phrases such as if I may) can be substituted for it ." I think the original sentence begs to be rewritten for clarity. For example: As a permission

If the speaker assumes the listener is familiar with something or can infer the specific thing(s) being referred to, then the is used. It means the things pointed to by the have already been introduced. In speaking about the different farming