I’m wondering what it is called when a non-transitive verb is used as a transitive verb. An example would be if someone took the dog outside so it could defecate, and said, I pooped the dog. I know the term anthimeria refers to using one part of a speech as another. Wikipedia says that anthimeria… … Read more
Before I embraced descriptive grammar it would really grind my gears when I heard, usually from someone with a US American accent, phrases like “I hate when that happens”. “Hate is a transitive verb!” I would yell. (To my knowledge it’s not normal to drop it in “UK English”.) However, these days I’m more mellow. … Read more
I know that I can say "I was drawn to someone," but can I also say "I was drawn to something by X"? I want to imply how I came across a topic that later became a serious project for me. Or should I simply use "come across"? Answer "Come across" connotes a particular happenstance, … Read more
You have received this proposal. Please decide whether you would like to accept it or reject it. Is it correct to repeat the object it in this sentence or should I skip it until the last verb? For example: Please decide whether you would like to accept or reject it. Answer Good writing in English … Read more
I’m thinking something along the lines of "imbue" or "instill", but neither of those words work perfectly unless you append "with value". Ideally this would be a word that’s used in a subject/object context, i.e. [subject] ____ [object to be made valuable], so something like "appreciate" doesn’t quite work. "Enrich" is the best I’ve come … Read more
I would like to say the following: “Taking this job would allow for these ideas to flourish”. But I’m wondering whether I can say it in an active manner: “Taking this job would allow for me to flourish these ideas”. The dictionary definition of flourish is “grow or develop”, so using it in this way … Read more
This is a design principle in object-oriented programming: Program to an interface, not an implementation. At last now I know for sure what the principle means (thanks to @DanBron in the comments) but as a non-native speaker I fail to understand what the phrase “program to” means in that sentence. It has been suggested that … Read more
I was taught that only transitive verbs can have passive form. But today, I met a person saying that intransitive verbs can also have passive form. He gave 2 examples as follows. A1: I speak to John. P1: John is spoken to by me. A2: I look after this baby. P2: This baby is looked … Read more
With a sentence like, "He sat on the couch," is sat still being used as an intransitive verb since, in general, prepositional phrases cannot act as direct objects? To me, the prepositional phase "on the couch" seems to be behaving like a direct object. If it is not behaving like a direct object, then I … Read more
Which is correct? John F.Kennedy became the 35th president of the USA in 1960-the youngest man ever was elected. or the youngest man ever to be elected Answer the youngest man ever was elected states that JFK was the youngest man ever, regardless of his status as president. the youngest man ever to be elected … Read more
