The original sentences: It was necessary first to arrive at that degree of sophistication where we no longer set our own belief against our neighbour’s superstition. It was necessary to recognize that these institutions which are based on the same premises, let us say the supernatural, must be considered together, our own among the rest. … Read more
So, what is the difference between the terms? Is it right to say that elision is a specific case of contraction? Another version I’ve I ran onto was that these were slightly different terms as contraction always refers to the case when there’s more than one word. Answer An elision refers specifically to the removal … Read more
In recent years it has become something of a trope to respond to a question with the stark reply "because noun". For example, Q. Why can’t we burn fossil fuels indefinitely? A. Because science. [Short for something like "because science has shown this leads to catastrophic climate change.] or Q. Why can’t I just skip … Read more
The original senences: Marshal Soult was reputed to be the man behind the scheme both for removing and using the unemployed foreign ex-soldiers. He could not have failed to recognize, once they were formed into disciplined units, how useful they would be, both for garrison duty and for active operations in Algeria, nor the fact … Read more
I am reading Heidi Grant Halvorson’s book Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals but assailed by these two chapter titles: How to Keep On Keepin’ On and Know When to Fold ‘Em. I thought they can also be written as How to Keep On Keeping On and Know When to Fold Them, and I … Read more
It is happening at a difficult time. I notice it sounds “difficul time”. Answer It’s not exactly “difficul” that you’re hearing. There is, in fact, a slight phonetic difference between “difficul time” and “difficult time”. Basically, you start making the /t/ sound, but you hold the occlusion for a moment before concluding it at the … Read more
So I am unsure whether to include the “t” in the pronunciation. I have heard both the t being pronounced distincly and left out entirely ( sound like “sh” sound only) and this is not just about this word but about every instance in which there is “tu”. My dictionary says “æktfually” which I dont … Read more
From Chemguide: Both of these terms matter, but the fall in lattice enthalpy is the more important. This falls because the ions are getting bigger. Shouldn’t it be either “is the more important one/of the two” or simply “is more important”? This use of the definite article without any noun or pronoun seems strange. Answer … Read more
I’d like to know why in the audio clip here what sounds like /hu/. Is it because what could oddly enough be pronounced as /hwʌt/ that starts with /h/. I’d like to add that I don’t remember I’ve heard it pronounced that way with /h/ before. My main problem is that I expect “what do … Read more
When you are promoting a product that the consumer has not used yet, would you include or exclude the words between parentheses in the phrase below? I’m not a native English speaker, and the more I think it over, the more I start to doubt it. Google’s results made me doubt even more. 🙂 Would … Read more
