I watch film science fiction The Blade Runer and man says this sentence. he is holding eye in his hand. I see in in a subtitle but I am not understanding this meaning. Can my friends in a Language and Usage website help me understanding meaning? Is this an idiom of English Language? Answer The … Read more
So, I have a sentence, more or less like this: “Gil, who HAS a psychokinesis ability, studied math yesterday.” or “Gil, who CAN move things without touching them, studied math yesterday.” So, with those sentences, I want to explain something that happened in the past, while explain a little about Gil himself. The thing is … Read more
This is interesting – if I write “should’ve” (for “should have“), my spell checker underlines the word. Same happens if I do “could’ve” (for “could have“). I use these forms but I’m starting to question if there even is such form and if I’m using English correctly? I also noticed that “I’ve” (for “I have“) … Read more
Context: I was so happy I felt tears starting in my eyes, and then she up and hugged me. I think she could tell. Answer Tell is frequently used with the meaning of realize or understand, so the sentence you quote can be read as “As I was close to tears, and she realized it, … Read more
I tend to use the following construction often in my e-mails: It would be great if you could… However my German colleague repeatedly reminds me that according to the rules he was taught, using “if” together with “could” in the way I do is strictly speaking incorrect. I am however certain that this construction is … Read more
I have seen and heard sentences like these: He could have gone too far. John can’t have eaten all the cake. But I don’t seem to encounter this structure: She can have done the work. I tried Googling it and found some examples, but I’m still unsure if it’s acceptable. I understand that "may have … Read more
Possible Duplicate: When do I use “can” or “could”? I was doing some reading on usage of can and could. I understand that can is used when asking for ability, and could for willingness. I would use can in the following sentence. Can I have one apple from your box? After reading about the usage … Read more
Possible Duplicate: When do I use “can” or “could”? I wonder which of the following is more polite: Can you please change my email address? Could you please change my email address? The second one sounds to me as if the request is more urgent. So I would choose the first. But I heard that … Read more
When should I use can? When should I use could? What is right under what context? Answer Since your name seems Indian, I’ll also mention a common Indian-English idiosyncrasy that may clear up matters for you. There is a tendency in Indian speech to use “could” for “can”, and “would” for “will”. This is wrong … Read more
