“I think I’ll be a clown when I get grown,” said Dill. Jem and I stopped in our tracks. ‘Yes sir, a clown,” he said. “There ain’t one thing in this world I can do about folks except laugh, so I’m gonna join the circus and laugh my head off.” (Harper Lee, To Kill A … Read more
In the sentence: All the information you need is in these folders. I would have expected to find: All the information that/which you need is in these folders. Why are those omitted? Answer Complementizers (words which introduce an embedded clause) can be elided in English. So the answer to your question is: it is omitted … Read more
A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he … Read more
I could not remember him; but I knew that he was my own uncle—my mother’s brother—that he had taken me when a parentless infant to his house; and that in his last moments he had required a promise of Mrs. Reed that she would rear and maintain me as one of her own children. (Jane … Read more
Have noticed that English speakers omit “I” when they are emailing or chatting: How are you doing? Am fine. Also, this occurs often in daily/weekly reports. Have seen quite a few of them, written by nationals of all English-speaking countries: Was re-installing a workstation in a conference room; Discussed a quarterly report with X; Am … Read more
Is it always necessary to repeat the pronoun before each verb? For example, do I need always to say: She called me and she said X or can I use a shorter one She called me and said X ? Answer It’s perfectly okay to say – She called me and said X Moreover, it … Read more
I’m having a hard time figuring out which is the correct form of asking this kind of question. I mean speaking strictly, this doesn’t sound right: You alright? or You eaten anything? compared to Are you alright? and Have you eaten anything?. So please enlighten me. Are those both forms correct or just something which … Read more
