Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, but mistakes do slip through. If something doesn’t work the way you expect, your first port of call should be www.friendsofed.com. A link to any known corrections since publication will be posted there. If you think you have found a mistake that’s not listed, please submit an … Read more
Here is a phrase that I used in a review I have long beaten the game but I still come back from time to time to listen to this tune. I don’t know if the phrase “I have long beaten” makes sense. What I was trying to say was that: even though I beat the … Read more
Suppose the AE / BE terminology difference over line and queue is ignored. According to native speakers ( and google searches), the following: He joined the lunch line. is standard English. But then, I found this: He entered the lunch line. Google searches suggest that “enter a line” is less common than “join a line”. … Read more
The Group will make strategic move to strengthen its market shares and will continue to invest in product design and development. Can I omit the second “will” and write as:- The Group will make strategic move to strengthen its market shares and continue to invest in product design and development. Answer Omitting the second will … Read more
The following example is taken from source A：We saw a police helicopter overhead yesterday morning. B：Really? They would have been looking for those bank robbers. The website says that it is an example of usage of would to express an assumption, presumption or expectation in the past. As this post indicates, the example here does … Read more
As a continuation to this question and AlicjaZ’s beautifully explained answer, I would like to ask whether there is any difference in meaning between the following sentences? She was in labour for 3 hours. (simple past) She had been in labour for 3 hours. (past perfect) Both sentences use a past tense. In principle, the … Read more
I am not a native English speaker myself but I am very annoyed by the fact that a lot of people these days, native and also non-native English speakers, are continuously using the expression “it’s like” or just “like” in oral speech as a sort of link between ideas, phrases or just words. Transcribing a … Read more
